


Tell me you didn’t.

by wherewestart



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: CEO, Wayhaught - Freeform, WynDoc - Freeform, WynHaught - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2019-10-18 06:51:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 31,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17575979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wherewestart/pseuds/wherewestart
Summary: Nicole is the founder and CEO of a cloud data storage company and Waverly is a VP at a defense contracting company. They haven’t spoken since college graduation 8 years ago, but one night changes that. A lot has happened in those years and the secrets they hold could ruin everything again.





	1. Hello Again

It was mid morning in the big city, the dew had already evaporated from the small patches of green surrounding the skyscrapers, the coffee shops and cafes were recovering from the morning rush of professionals trying to start their day with caffeine or whatever they could get their hands on to shake off the commute.

Nicole’s day had already started hours before everyone else, as usual. She was pacing around her office in one of the largest buildings in the city. She had just finished slamming her phone down after having a difficult conversation with the head of her IT department. It had already been a long morning of mishaps and nothing was going her way.

 

“Wynonna...Wynonna!” Nicole steadily raised her voiced and kicked the day dreaming woman’s feet off a table in front of her as she lounged on a small couch.

“I need you to be on your A game today, the attempted hack last night could have been bad for us”. Nicole was agitated, not directly at the woman but the loss of control made her lash out. Very different from her usual state of confident and controlled. And Wynonna was already two hours late.

“I always am. Slow your roll haught pocket we will find out who keeps doing this.”

Wynonna rolled her eyes and stood up from where she was lounging on the couch in Nicole’s office. She walked toward the wall of windows that looked out high above the city. The top floor where they stood was so high, the other buildings seems to float below. The city went as far as the eye could see in the distance, with a faint visual where it stopped, and the outline of mountains could be seen. When Wynonna glanced down, the pedestrians on the sidewalk walking to and from cabs, in and out of skyscrapers, between the structures, were only outlines of blurry colors. Wynonna was continuously impressed by the empire Nicole built.

The women were each other’s best friends. From high school, to college roommates, now Wynonna worked for Nicole as her right hand. After college Nicole started the tech company, C.J Dataspace, from her basement. It started small but evolved into one of biggest cloud data storage companies on the east coast, protecting the privacy and data for some of the most high profile clients in the world.

The building was dedicated to one company, Nicole’s company. C.J Dataspace was so brightly displayed on the side of building that strangers often used it as a landmark for directions. It was a very welcoming space beginning at the lobby, offering visitors food and drink with a comfortable place to relax while they waited. Each floor had a purpose whether it be the IT security group, the software developers, the marketing geniuses, the sale gurus, and even a full floor with a cafeteria, another floor dedicated to entertainment – a gaming room, a virtual reality room, a quite room -anything that helped employees unwind. Nicole made sure anyone who came to work there was treated right. Every floor at any moment of the day was bustling with employee conversations, anywhere from problem solving to evening plans and Nicole’s personal favorite- echoes of laughter. It was a nice reminder that her people enjoyed being there. Every floor was matched with white, sleek, clean line furniture with slight pops of bright color in the form of wall art, chairs, or random walls painted various matching colors of green and blue.

The top floor consisted of three offices- Wynonna, Nicole’s, and one remained empty. Nicole’s office was massive, a minimalist style of the same light colored furniture that was sleek and not bulky but it felt comfortable with the soft fabrics that coated the chairs. The same pops of bright color filled the office in the form of wall art, a bright blue couch, a conference table with chairs that were each a different color and a massive desk that was wrapped in the same bright blue color as the couch with a glass top. She had everything she needed and then some. The couch pulled out, there was a treadmill that was put to use every morning, a white subway tiled bathroom with a full shower. There was even evidence of a laundry bag. Nicole had slept , showered and changed the previous night in one end of the office. The laundry service was late coming to get the garments Nicole disposed of after a long day. Wynonna was found making a face and some sort of “again?” comment whenever this happened. She thought Nicole needed to slow down most days.

 

Wynonna continued to walk from one end of the office to the other, mindlessly brushing her hand across the various pieces of furniture, the top of the soft , curvy bright blue couch, and the top of the six person conference table as she drew closer to Nicole’s desk where the tall woman was sitting and looked over papers. Wynonna temporarily half sat down on the corner of the desk.

“I’ll try talking to Waverly, see if anything strange has been happening at GRT Tech. Maybe it’s some low level, bored hacker kids trying to access their bad grades like before when they hit us both by accident. Baby sis always has the good dirt.”

Nicole shook her head in disagreement.

 

“I think you can come up with a better plan, Wy” Nicole said, arching her eyebrow above her glasses as she glared at the brown haired woman. “Plus she is a professional, I doubt she will tell you any of their confidential information.”

Hearing Waverly’s name should have angered Nicole, it sometimes did, and sometimes it was paired with a sadness. It also always managed to remind her of a distant memory that involved a late night, a locked intern office, and the top of a copy machine. Nicole still can’t remember what happened to those photocopies.

She quickly shook the thought but the smirk lingered on her face.

“But I know you probably need your fix of Henry, so... I’ll see you later”

Wynonna bit her lip as she walked away from Nicole’s desk toward the door, agitated.

“Screw you!” Wynonna yelled as she left Nicole’s office.

“Maybe later!” Nicole yelled back.

Wynonna never put her middle finger down as she reach for the door handle, swung it open and slammed Nicole’s office door shut.

As soon as she walked out, Nicole let out the small laugh she’d been holding in. Not that she would ever admit it but Wynonna gets her through the toughest of days.

——

Wynonna arrived at GRT Tech around noon to surprise Waverly with lunch , and it wasn’t far from her mind to see what Henry was up to.

Waverly, baby sister to Wynonna, was the Executive Vice President of Business Development and Research at GRT Tech, a contractor for the military. She was mainly in charge of securing grants and working directly with the military personnel of the work they were completing, mostly top secret, no questions type of work. Whatever they needed, her company built. She started to work there not long after college when she was headhunted, aggressively, by Robert “Bobo” Svane. At the time it was a great career move, being second in charge of a massive government contracted company was an opportunity of a lifetime and the money talked, even if it changed her social life for the worse.

GRT Tech was further in to the city, right on the outskirts as they owned some land for testing purposes, about a twenty minute cab ride from C.J. The building was very cold, no distinguishing markings as C.J had. Robert never had any style but they also worked for the government so the warm welcoming feeling was never a priority. Everything was grey and white, with the highest level of security. Once a visitor walked in all someone could hear was the echoes of footsteps. It was so quite and even smelled sterile. There were metal detectors to gain access, and even Wynonna messed with the check- in guards every now and then. Although she never elicited even a fake smile from them. She even once left a mini vibrator in her leather jacket for them to find. Not even a smirk or look of disgust, just as straight faced as the Queen Guards at Buckingham Palace. She was appalled they actually confiscated her vibrator. Every now and then she still asks how they are enjoying it.

 

After Wynonna arrived and had gone through security, put her leather jacket and belt back on and made her way up to the 10th floor from the lobby elevator. She briefly took note that the elevator seemed to be very dirty. Not that it was per se dirty but there was literally a pile of dirt in a normally clean and sterile environment. Wynonna quickly inspected the surroundings as the elevator shot up to the 10th floor and opened its doors.

As she walked down the hallway to Waverly’s office she noticed the slightly open door of Henry’s office and stopped in front of it. She slowly ran her fingers over the “J. Henry Holliday” name plate on the door as she pushed it further open. Her disappointment was audible as she found the office empty.

Something caught her eye behind his desk and she walked over to his chair and ran her hands along the top of a wool overcoat that was thrown over back of the chair. Smoke, she realized. There was a freshly lit cigarette hanging in balance on the side of an ash tray on the desk. She smiled and shook her head “dumbass,” she mumble as the cigarette was extinguished with a few quick ashy dabs into the tray.

As Nicole had Wynonna at C.J, Waverly had Henry as her, well, assistant of sorts, I’m not sure one could say he had a job description, but most days he proved himself very useful. Henry somehow drifted into Waverly’s life after living in the south and was a natural fit after a short period time for the position. Once Henry had gotten to know Waverly, he had gotten to know Wynonna, on several occasions, as Waverly invited him into their home for holidays and gatherings.

“Can’t you smoke in your own office, sis?” Waverly stood in the doorway, dawning a smirk and tapping her black stilettos waiting for Wynonna to say something but instead snapped her out of whatever was going on inside her mind.

“Baby girl! You scared the shit out of me.”

“You know you can come here just to see Henry, you don’t have to make up an excuse with lunch for little ol’ me” Waverly said as a another, wider, smile crawled across her face.

“Urgh, between you and Nicole I am not sure which one gives me more shit.” Wynonna continued to grumble as they both made their way out of Henry’s office.

“Nice to see you too by the way.”

Waverly raised her eyebrow when Wynonna mentioned Nicole’s name. It struck her that they both had similar conversations with Wynonna separately.

Waverly and Nicole attended college together as well, but grew apart after graduation and stopped talking, she sometimes forgot how close Nicole and Wynonna remained.

As they walked down the hall to Waverly’s office, heels and boots clicking on the marble floor, they passed yearly achievement plaques hanging on the wall, framed articles on the successful record breaking military grants; “Ghost River Triangle Tech Lands Largest Military Grant of the Quarter”. It provided a small yet impressive visual resume on how far Waverly had come.

 

As they came in the office, Waverly adjusted the chairs and put her long flowing brunette hair in a messy bun before sitting down and Wynonna began unpacking the food from the bags onto the conference table. A chicken sandwich for her and a vegan sandwich for Waverly.

 

As they started to eat, Wynonna relaxed by putting her feet up on the table. Glancing around the large rectangular office as her eyes laid upon all the artifacts from Waverly’s travels around the world. There were photos hanging on the bright white walls of Waverly kissing the Blarney Stone, another of her standing at the top of Mount Fuji, or Wynonna’s personal favorite of the time she met a shirtless Liam Hemsworth on an Australian beach. On her desk were pictures of family from vacations and holidays, there was one photo in the center of her and Wynonna holding paint brushes during the times they were refurbishing their old childhood home. The office was not as large as Nicole’s but just as beautiful as it faced the mountain landscape where the back of the building stood, it faced the small town of Purgatory just outside of the city. The women were seated at the conference table, which had a unique shimmering chandelier fixture above it that reflect light onto their belongings and fresh flowers in the middle that Waverly had brought in every week from her weekend walks around their land. The space had comfy style furniture and Waverly had bright pink and blue accents in place. She always put her own personal bright touch to everything that matched her personality.

“So, hows everything been here?” Wynonna lifted her fork and quickly made a circle motion around the room.

“It’s been alright, nothing too crazy, staying busy. Robert always has something up his sleeve for me to do.”

Wynonna shivered at the mention of his name. She never liked him or that he seemed so infatuated with Waverly.

“Have you had any...trouble...anything odd come up lately?”

Waverly sat up straighter at the question and thought for a moment. “Hm, why do you ask, everything ok?”

“Oh, just wondering.”

Waverly knew Wynonna better than anyone and could tell something was wrong, but dismissed it for now. She herself had been noticing some strange things going on, mainly accounting issues and what seemed to be late night construction in the building in distance they used for testing, but it wasn’t something she ever felt needed to be discussed with Wynonna. Or maybe Henry talked about private company information to Wynonna? but she shook this thought and knew that wouldn’t be the case.

Waverly wanted to change the subject, discussing work wasn’t her favorite thing while with family. With Nicole fresh on her mind from before, regrettably, the first thing that came out of her mouth was “How’s Nicole doing?”.

 

“Nicole? She’s good. Haughtstuff really works hard, and like, all the time. Barely enough time for happy hour most days” Wynonna said.

“Whatever happened between you two anyways? After college it’s like you two went through a breakup!” Wynonna said jokingly, but had a suspicious smirk - Waverly awkwardly laughed it off.

“I’m not sure , after I decided not to help start her company I think we just grew apart, I honestly cannot remember the last time I’ve talked to her” Waverly looked down to her fidgeting hands to avoid eye contact with Wynonna. Waverly felt bad for lying to Wynonna. It wasn’t a complete lie, but there was so much more to the story that she couldn’t bring herself to admit to. Partly because the details of everything seemed to blend together after all this time but also because she still got a feeling in the pit of her stomach whenever she thought about Nicole. After a while she wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad feeling.

“Well, if you want to join in, we tend to hit up Shorty’s for happy hour on Friday. I more drag Nicole and most nights she ends up going back to work but come along if you want. Should be there tonight, right on schedule.” Wynonna said.

“Ya, we’ll see, and you do know it’s Tuesday, right?”.

“Right. Well, Tuesday ... Friday, whiskey doesn’t care what day of the week it is baby girl.”

Waverly rolled her eyes and smiled at the woman.

They finished up their lunch date with small glasses of whiskey. Waverly kept a bottle in her desk that she brought back from Ireland for such occasions before they headed back to the real world.

——

It was almost the end of the work day when Wynonna finally made her way back to Nicole’s office. As she walked in she found a frantic Nicole. While she was away there was another hack. Nicole was pacing back and forth in her office and yelling at the head of IT on the phone. She was clearly already at this a while because Wynonna noticed her tossed shoes across the room along with her blazer as she glanced down at the talk time on the phone: :34:29.

Wynonna carefully sat down as she saw this as she didn’t want to be next on Nicole’s list, but it was already too late.

“Damnit!” The phone slammed down on the desk so hard Wynonna was convinced the glass broke below it.

“Wynonna, this is not ok. We told them their patients data was safe. We are one of the first major corporations to take on this type of medical records data. This could ruin us if it gets out. I knew signing this client was risky”.

“Was it a sloppy attempt again?” Wynonna questioned.

“Yes , they only got so far, sent all of our alarms off, then…nothing...” A defeated sounding Nicole answered as she hung her head, red hair covering her face.

“We will figure it out” Wynonna said as she stood up and walked closer to Nicole.

Wynonna knew Nicole better than anyone. She knew how terrible Nicole felt for letting this happen. She always wanted to help people, make their lives easier and safer as technology changed, but she also knew they couldn’t fix the problem then and there.

Wynonna had an empathetic look on her face and said very calmly “Nicole, look, we need to let the nerds downstairs figure this out, it’s what you pay them for. It’s late, it’s been a long day and we need to try to relax and take a step back.” She put a hand on Nicole’s shoulder for comfort.

Nicole looked down at her hand, then back up at Wynonna, a very concerning puzzled look spread across her face, and she was about to say something, but a split second later, in unison, they disgustedly shook every body appendage as if trying to get a bug off their skin and made gagging noises at the same time.

“Dude. Can we agree to never let you sound like Mamma Haught after we lost the softball championship ever again?” Nicole said.

“Ya I don’t know where that came from, if you agree not tell anyone how soft I just sounded I’ll buy the first round at Shorty’s.”

“Deal”. Nicole said quickly and nodded her head - even though she knew Wynonna hasn’t paid for drinks since that one time a ten dollar bill fell out of her pocket and Nicole swiftly picked it up and used it to pay.

They both gathered their belongings and made a plan to head out for the night to Shorty’s.

——

Waverly was still at her office. She was sitting at her desk and realized how late it was. As she took off her glasses, she slowly ran one hand through the side of her hair, then rubbed her eyes. The bright computer screen strained them after hours of staring. Her lunch conversation with Wynonna got her curious. She tried to find documentation and approval records for the late night mystery construction and this was not an easy task as she quickly hit password protected files from Robert and other dead ends. There was one document in a contract she didn’t recognize where the redacted text was visible: “TESTS ON PATIENT 11 showed…” then the rest was blacked out. She knew this information was heavy but this wouldn’t discourage her, as little typically did when she had a mission in mind, but for tonight , she had enough.

She remembered Wynonna’s invite to Shorty’s earlier that afternoon. Her phone lit up as Chrissy and Jeremy, her long time friends from high school , sent reply messages from her earlier question of joining her. Waverly knew Nicole was going to be there and wanted to put a plan in place so it wasn’t terribly awkward, just in case, because she’s a planner.

A small part of her couldn’t shake the feeling of butterflies in her stomach at the thought of seeing Nicole after such a long time. Waverly convinced herself going was a good idea, she needed a night out and that they were both adults who could occupy the same space at the same time and everything could be normal.

She slipped back on her heels, re-tucked her black and white stripped button up into her black leather skirt, tossed on her fitted long dark trench coat - overdressed for Shorty’s, but she didn’t want to give herself the opportunity to bail if she went home and changed.

——

Wynonna and Nicole had found two open bar stools at Shorty’s. Wynonna ordered a whiskey while Nicole ordered a beer. Nicole left her tab open as she knew it needed to be a proper night out. Wynonna gave her a nod as she held her glass up in the air before taking a sip. Shorty’s was busy for a weekday but it was the best place to unwind and it helped that Wynonna’s Aunt, Gus, owned the place. It was a typical hometown bar, everything was dark old wood, an enormous open room with a juke box, pool table, booth seating and old pictures hanging on the wall. One photo behind the bar was of Wynonna and Waverly’s father Ward and sister Willa that had tragically died in a fire when the girls were in elementary school. Nicole caught Wynonna eyeing the photo as the first sip of Whiskey burned her throat. Wynonna looked down at her hands that were mindlessly tapping the glass cup with the ring on her middle finger. Wynonna felt Nicole gently put her hand over hers to console her as her thoughts shifted to the painful memories of losing both family members. After that Wynonna and Waverly lived with Gus until after college when the two girls fixed up and moved back in to their abandoned childhood home.

They had been there for about two beers, or four whiskeys, depending on which empty set of glasses you looked at, when Waverly arrived with Jeremy and Chrissy.

Jeremy and Chrissy both walked in, dawning their usual bubbly personalities and smiles to  
match and immediately started toward Wynonna.

Waverly held back for a moment as she saw Nicole. She was doing this. Being an adult, a normal adult. No turning back now. It had been so long since last seeing Nicole but the first thing Waverly noticed about her was how amazing she still looked.

Sitting pretty with her knees crossed on the bar stool as her navy pants flowed tightly just at her ankle, with a green button up, sleeves rolled and short wavy red hair -It was shorter than Waverly remembered but it suited her well.

Nicole was laughing and lightly hitting Wynonna’s shoulder, surely at something offensive she had said.

The previous butterfly feeling quickly turned into a damn swarm of bees when she saw her smile- she wanted to bail, but Wynonna was already embarrassingly flagging her down.

Waverly made her way over to the bar and the only open stool was directly next to  
Nicole , as if Jeremy and Chrissy purposely took the other two next to Wynonna.

When she sat down, Nicole looked twice, then registered it was Waverly sitting next to her and almost choked on her beer.

“Hey.” Waverly said shyly.

“H…hi…” Nicole wiped off the beer from her chin from coughing.

If Waverly was nervous it wasn’t physically obvious . “Is this..” , Waverly waved her hand, motioning the seat choice, “…ok?”

“Uh, y…ya that’s fine” Nicole barely managed to answer.

Nicole was shocked to see Waverly and judging by the smirk on Wynonna’s face, it wasn’t so shocking to her. As Nicole uncrossed her legs and moved over to give Waverly more room at the tight seating at the bar, she made sure one hit Wynonna.

“Ouch! Christ, Haught box, watch where you swing those stems!”

“Oh, my bad , didn’t see you there” the look she gave Wynonna made it clear she knew what happened.

Nicole didn’t have time to register feelings as Waverly was ordering a drink. As she got her wallet out, Waverly caught Nicole staring. To recover, Nicole flagged down the bar tender and told her to put everyones drink on her tab.

Jeremy and Chrissy hollered obnoxiously over at Nicole as a thank you.

“Thanks Nicole, you didn’t have to”, Waverly said as she adjusted her purse to the back of the bar chair.

“My pleasure, haven’t seen you, in what, years?”

Nicole thought the next time she saw Waverly she would bolt. After all , she broke her heart. But this moment was different, maybe it was the crew of people they were with or how much time had passed since they last interacted with but seeing her, having her close, all the anger seemed like a distant memory- for now.

Waverly smiled. “Ya, something like that. It’s really great to see you Nic. You look great.”

“Same to you.”

“SHOTS!” Wynonna yelled with her fist in the air, startling the two women in thought.

“Whiskey for all- oh wait , one of those gross peppermint shots for red”.

“Wy, it tastes like Christmas, come on!”

Waverly giggled and nodded her head, of course she couldn’t forget Nicole’s shot of choice.

After everyone took their shot with puckered faces, the group went off to play pool once the table was open and grabbed a booth to sit at.

At this point Henry had showed up still wearing the clothes from the work day, and his favorite brim hat that was never found off his head. He played pool with Wynonna against Jeremy and Chrissy as Waverly and Nicole sat awkwardly at the booth.

Wynonna was at the jukebox deep in concentration trying to find a song as Henry approached her. “Come on, Gus! I told you months ago to put Hanson in this damn thing!”

“And what pray tell are you doing Wynonna?”

“What, I’m just picking a new song, we need to liven this place up.”

“Wynonna, I see what you are doing.” Henry slightly lowered his head , tipping his hat down and quickly eyed the booth the women were occupying.

“Look, I’m just setting the stage, it’s up to them to screw this up again. Don’t worry, Nicole still has no idea she spilled her fire engine red heart out to me during our drunk fest a few months ago.”

Henry sighs at this as he has heard the story thousands of times as Wynonna was trying to process the information.

“Yes, I was pissed at first, my best friend and my sister were hiding a big secret , but, once I cooled off, so many things made sense. They deserve to be happy.”

—  
_Wynonna and Nicole were at the office late one night as one drink led to full on drunk. The two women were slurring their words and giggling at what seemed to be nothing as they sat on the floor in front of Nicole’s desk as the lights from the other buildings lit up the dark office._

_“Nicole. Nicole. Look at my ass. I was told today from some asshole to “move my flat ass” when I was jjjuuust trying to get some more whiskey from the top shelf at the store today.”_

_“Wai- wait, whhhattttt. Girl. Please. That ass IS top shelf.” Nicole confidently stated, but blinked her eyes rapidly to keep them open._

_“Mmm… I knew I loved you” Wynonna said as she grabbed the side of Nicole’s face and smooshed a sloppy kiss to the side of it._

_Waverly’s name showed on Wynonnas caller ID as her phone sat next to Nicole on the ground._

_“Wwavvverrllyyyy” Nicole said in a high pitched voice._

_Wynonna continued to giggle. “Oh shit, how late is it? She must be worried.”_

_Nicole’s eyes instantly teared up.“I loved that girl. Love? Shit.”_

_“I’m sorry what?” Wynonna said. She sat up from her comfortable, slouched state as she tried to sober up very quick to hear the rest._

_“Waverly. I love her.” Nicole drunkenly continued not even realizing what she was admitting. “It’s been so long. College was the best time of my life, I was so happy- we were happy, and the sex, that was mind blowing. Then everything got so sad after everything happened.” Nicole’s face switched from sad to disgusted._

_“ I can’t believe she did that, and with HER , of all people. I thought we were going to make it. And I swear Wynonna we were going to tell you. But then it all fell apart. I guess it’s my fault, I couldn’t get over my hurt ego.” A single tear fell from her cheek to her shirt._

_“C.J. was supposed to be ours, we were suppose to have a life together.”_

_Wynonna sat there trying to process everything with her mouth agape._

_“Nope! Nope. Nope. Nope.”_

_Wynonna fumbled for her phone and quickly called Henry for a ride home._

_Nicole started to fall asleep and the beer in her hand was slipping toward the floor._

_“Ok red, that’s enough, time for bed. Also I’m taking a two week vacation tomorrow. Ill see you when I don’t want to kick your ass.”_

_Wynonna got Nicole onto her couch, even though she was beyond upset she still made sure she was on her side and had a warm blanket over her. Then wrote, tried to write in her state of mind, a reminder about this sudden two week vacation on a post it on Nicole’s desk and left._

— —

“And what about you Wynonna, what do you deserve?” Henry asked in a low voice with a matching empathetic gaze.

Henry and Wynonna were never officially a couple, but that was never up to him- even though he knew how much he loved Wynonna he would always wait for her, and be there for her whenever she needed him.

“More whiskey. And maybe you?” with a sly smile, “bathroom, 20 minutes?”

Henry bit his lip and let out a low growl as Wynonna smacked his butt and walked in front of him to finish the game of pool.

There had been about 5 minutes of awkward silence between Nicole and Waverly as they sat across from each other in the booth next to the pool table.

Sohowswork , whathaveyoubeenupto , both woman said at the same time.

They both smiled. Nicole started in again when Waverly quickly waved her on, and the small talk ensued. Nicole was intently watching Waverly as she discussed work and hobbies. Nicole was entranced and remembering what it was like to hear Waverly tell a story, so passionate about everything she did. Focusing on the girl’s mannerisms she could never forget. Waverly always talked with her hands and at one point almost knocked her drink over as she told a funny story about Doc getting stuck in an elevator. Nicole had a smile that never left her face.

As Nicole talked Waverly did the same. She was remembering her confidence and intelligence, her casual demeanor, it was all so intoxicating. And the dimples, damn those dimples.

Waverly kept thinking to herself while Nicole continued; Intoxicating , intoxicate, yup, she was intoxicated and knew she had to leave before she said or did something she regretted.

Nicole noticed Waverly’s state of mind as the brunette stood up, interrupting their conversation and almost fell over. Nicole held out her hand to use as a stabilizer. Waverly grabbed it and felt something, something she hasn’t in a while. She took a huge breath as Nicole stood to help her more, grabbing her other hand to guide Waverly back down to the seat. Waverly could never forget the feeling of Nicole’s hands, her strength as their hands were intertwined and Nicole moved one to Waverly’s back gently but respectfully as a guide.

Waverly looked back up as she was now sitting again and her eyes were in line with Nicole’s waist for a brief moment as Nicole knelt down to the woman. Waverly stared into Nicole’s eyes, thinking she never wanted to look away. This was the closest she had been to Nicole in almost eight years. A faint smell of vanilla brushed by Waverly’s senses that coaxed a smile across her face as she closed her eyes and breathed it in.

“Let’s call a cab, we can ride together, it’s been a long night” Nicole said.

Wynonna and the others playing pool were all watching what was happening, and all subsequently smirking at each other. Jeremy was the most obvious as he had to hide his mouth behind his zip up sweatshirt. His eyes however still gave away the gleeful emotion.

Nicole brought Waverly a glass of water and trotted over to the group. “Hey guys I’m just going to make sure Waverly gets home ok. Wynonna – I’ll see you tomorrow, we have a meeting with IT, they may have some answers for us.”

“Yup! Tell baby girl I’ll be home eventually!”

——

Nicole helped Waverly into the cab, then told the driver the two addresses. The cab smelled of a fresh pine scented air freshener and the driver was silent the entire time, occasionally glancing back in the rear view mirror at the two women. Shorty’s wasn’t far from the sisters home.

“I’m so sorry Nicole, I guess I’m still a lightweight.”

“Hey, it’s fine. It’s been a long night. I for one cannot wait to finally sleep alone in my own bed.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize-“ Waverly had a slight jealousy to her voice as all she could think about was Nicole possibly in someone else’s bed.

“The couch at the office is necessary but I need a real bed without the threat of someone coming up the elevator.” Nicole continued over Waverly’s voice.

Waverly let out a sigh of relief. “How often do you do that?”

“A lot lately , just dealing with some security issues.”

Waverly nodded, wanting to continue the conversation as the cab pulled up to the old farm home. “Do you want to come in ?”

Nicole thought for a moment. Oh did she ever, but Waverly was drunk and she knew she needed to leave.

“Thank you , but no. I have an early day tomorrow, but maybe we could grab lunch or something soon?”

“Absolutely.” Waverly replied.

Both of the women were staring so long at each other it had only then registered that Waverly’s hand was on Nicole’s knee.

The cab driver leered at the two with raised eyebrows and a “hurry up” throat clear.

Waverly gave Nicole a small kiss on the cheek as a consolation in her altered state of mind and got out of the cab and walked to her door. Nicole wasn’t prepared for that.

Nicole watched as Waverly made it safely into her home she shared with Wynonna. It was off the beaten path, a large, older farm  
home that had no outdoor patio lights around the wrap around porch. Nicole made a mental note to tell Wynonna to fix that for safety.

She shifted her weight into the seat of the cab, throwing her head back with a heavy sigh as she thought about Waverly once more. She held two fingers to the small damp spot on her cheek, tucked her lip behind her front teeth and closed her eyes. “Shit.”

Once Waverly made her way in the house she immediately fell onto her couch. With her mind still fixated on Nicole, she brought two fingers to her lips as she still could feel Nicole’s soft skin on them. “Shit.”


	2. This feels right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A glimpse into what made Nicole and Waverly stop talking. What have Waverly and Henry gotten themselves in to?

The next morning Nicole awoke in her own apartment in Purgatory. The early sun was slowly coaxing her out of bed through a large window with orange textured curtains that gave the entire room an orange glow.

As she stretched every limb under the white down comforter, through her white T-shirt and shorts, short red hair scattered around her face, she looked at peace. She doesn’t remember ever feeling this rested. Her beloved cat, Calamity Jane, was beside her, and she could smell the pot of coffee brewing that she finally remembered to pre set before bed. 

“Good Morning, CJ!.” As she squeezed the cheeks of the less than thrilled looking cat.

With everything happening at the office she can’t remember the last time a morning like this actually felt like a new day.

As she tossed the blankets off her, scaring CJ out, she looked around the room and appreciated the quiet. She appreciated the the feel of the old hardwood floors beneath her feet, the creaking noise they made just before she stepped into the bathroom onto the cold tile. Before she went fully into the bathroom she held a smirk on her face and darted across the room to her computer. With a few clicks, Alanis Morissette’s greatest hits begins to play. Nicole shuffled on her socks and snapped her fingers in the air as she sang back to the bathroom. After discarding her shorts and white T-shirt, she stepped into the warm shower and belted out “ You, you, you oughta know!!”

Nicole felt extra confident after singing her heart out in the shower, still bopping to the jams echoing in her room, and she knew that called for her power suit. She slipped on her long black pants, white button up, and a fitted, angled black blazer. She felt like she could take on the world with this look.

After Nicole got dressed and went downstairs, she poured her coffee. Her mind went to Waverly. She picked up her phone off the kitchen counter to check to see if she still had Waverly’s number. Who was she kidding, she could still remember it. She began typing out a text message.

N: Hey, Waves..

She shook her head.

N: Hi, Waverly. It’s me Nicole.

She puffed out her cheeks and let the air out, widening her eyes to the ceiling. “Come on Nicole, you own a multi million dollar company, you can send a text.”

She began again.

N:Hey, Waverly it’s me Nicole. Not sure if you still had my number. I guess I still have yours : - ) do you want to grab lunch this week?

Her thumb hovered over the send button. She contemplated. “Too soon.” She left the text but didn’t hit send and locked her phone.

Nicole had a driver get her in the morning and bring her into the city. She stepped out of her apartment building onto the cement sidewalk and felt the sun greet her in cooler air as she said hello to Joe, her trusted driver.

After being happy all morning somehow a small cloud formed when she almost texted Waverly. 

During the half hour commute where she is normally chatting up Joe about his Grandchildren she sat silently in the backseat as her mind wandered to what started it all. The first time Waverly broke her heart.

——  
2010:

Nicole and Waverly were seeing each other in secret for a few months of their senior year of college. After years of flirting they finally made it official between and would sort the rest out later. The rest being, telling everyone. Nicole was Waverly’s first girlfriend and Wynonna was Nicole’s best friend. It was a complicated situation and neither party wanted to push until they felt comfortable.

The attraction was undeniable. The level of comfort and ease was like nothing they had ever experienced before. To Nicole , Waverly was always Wynonna’s little sister, but after Waverly graduated High School early and joined them in college, the pair finally had got to know each other.

Everything felt like a fairytale, but then, something felt off. 

Nicole had started her business before she even graduated college. She worked night in and night out , after classes –  
ever since her sophomore year. Nicole has always been brilliant and knew a good idea when she saw one and wanted this one to be successful. By the time she graduated, she signed her fifth major client and that brought in enough money for her to buy office space. 

 

As Nicole was spending more time building the business, she was spending less time with Waverly. A few nights before, they had gotten into a fight because Nicole didn’t go to a final goodbye party on campus. It ended with Waverly storming out and meeting their friend Rosita at the frat house alone. They hadn’t spoken since.

Nicole always thought, one more day, one more contract and we can start our life. 

The day she put an offer in on a building the first thing she wanted to do was tell Waverly. No matter how many fights they had, Waverly was always on her mind.

 

Waverly worked at a bar in the city with Rosita and had a shift that afternoon. They were in the back taking inventory, preparing for that night when Waverly looked at her phone, hopeful there would be a message or missed call from Nicole. When there wasn’t, she broke down crying. 

She wasn’t sure where it came from but she was letting her emotions out about everything going on with Nicole and Rosita was silently listening. Rosita had been in and out Waverly’s life ever since freshman year. Nicole wasn’t a huge fan, but she trusted Waverly.

“She doesn’t understand, Rosie. I want to spend time with her, I miss her. I- I don’t, sometimes I don’t even know if I know who she is anymore.” 

“She is always working or even when we are together she isn’t there.”

Waverly face turned slightly angry and sad.

“There is just never a good time to enjoy being young before we have to go be adults. I just, I- I can’t do this.” Waverly, tears now falling fast down her cheek, soaking her apron.

Rosita slowly approached the crying woman and took her in her arms. “It’s ok, it’ll be ok.”

They stood there together for a few minutes. Her smell was different than Nicole’s, it was citrus and her body didn’t feel as warm or inviting.

Waverly let out a few more gasping breaths. Rosita took Waverly’s chin up with her index finger to meet Waverly’s eyes with an empathetic gaze. “Hey, it will be ok. You should probably talk to her about all of this.”

Before Waverly had a chance to respond, the two locked lips in the emotional moment. Waverly wanted to protest, she pulled back slowly, closed her eyes and shook her head. She started to talk, but noticed a tall figure in the doorway. 

Nicole. 

Nicole drove all the way to the bar, a permanent smile on her face thinking about the lease papers she just signed. The bar owner knew Nicole and let her in to find Waverly. 

What she found was Waverly and Rosita kissing, Rositas hands moving all over her Waverly. Places only she was honored to touch. Her back, her sides, her hair. 

Her mind was blank. She couldn’t even hear Waverly yelling her name as she turned and quickly exited to her car.

Waverly was right behind her.

She picked up the pace and made it to her car before Waverly even had the chance to make it to her door. She drove off without any thought, with no direction. If she was going back to her apartment, she wasn’t going in the correct direction.

She didn’t know how long she was driving or where she was, but she found a gas station parking lot to turn around in. She parked her car instead. 

The sun was setting and the gas station was set out in the middle of nowhere, Nicole saw a picnic table that overlooked the mountains and headed for it. Leaving her phone in the car, five missed calls from Waverly. 

She finally broke down with her head on the wooden table. The kiss was the catalyst, but if Nicole was honest with herself, it was everything. The late nights, the missed social hours, the impending fear of graduation. She never talked to Waverly about any of this because to Nicole it showed weakness. She was suppose to be able to handle everything.

How did it get here? 

It had been a few days since she last saw Waverly. She either holed herself up in her apartment she shared with Wynonna or was at her new building. It was a mess. Construction was everywhere and just the bones of the structure was coming together on each floor.

Graduation was in two days. Then she could really get to work.

Nicole was standing in one of the eventual offices on the top floor. She walked through the office, kicking up construction dust with a pair of black converse, blue jeans, and her favorite camouflage jacket. She stood at the window and tried to take in the city view but the sadness still lingered. 

There was a loud thump behind her. She quickly flinched and turned to find Waverly standing in the office with her.

“Hey.”

Nicole returned it with a head nod and resumed her stance of looking out the windows.

Waverly looked like she hadn’t slept in days.

“Let me guess, Wynonna told you where I was?”

Waverly nodded her head.

“Nicole, we need to talk.” Waverly said as she balanced back and forth on the heels of her feet nervously.

“So talk.” Nicole said coldly.

“I didn’t mean for it, the kiss I mean - to happen, that was an accident I don’t know what Rosita was thinking.”

Nicole shot around to face Waverly. Scrunching her eyebrows.  
“You are just going to blame this on her? I saw you both.”

“And believe me she’s been wanting to do that ever since freshman year and don’t act like you don’t know that Waverly.”

Waverly stood in silence. She couldn’t protest that fact. She then walked over to Nicole.

“Nicole, please.”

“Why Waverly, don’t you want this?” Nicole motioned her hand between the two of them.

“I don’t have a good answer. M..my explanation usually leads to things I never tell you. But that kiss was a separate accident that didn’t mean anything, that I swear. I would never intentionally hurt you. I think our problems lately are so much deeper than that.”

“I think this is amazing Nicole , I do. And you are going to be so successful. But, I would rather be struggling and not knowing our next move if that meant I got to be with you, everyday, without the stress, without the constant interruptions.”

“Waverly, I started this before you and I ever were together, this is going to be a part of me for a while..”

Waverly cut in to Nicole’s words. “I know and I would never take this from you, but this feels like bad timing. I don’t even know what I want Nicole. We haven’t even technically graduated yet and you are full blown adult.”

Nicole stepped closer to the shorter girl. “Waverly this is for you. Right where we are are standing Waves. This office is yours. Yours to grow, yours to make into your own.”

Waverly, now angry.

“Stop. I said I never wanted this. Why are you pushing this on me. You have been for months Nicole. I already have one Wynonna telling me what to do and protecting me, I don’t need another!”

Waverly’s words cut Nicole deep.

“I- baby, I am so sorry the last thing I would ever want is for you to feel pressured, I just thought we could do this together.”

It struck Nicole that she actually might be holding Waverly back.

Waverly’s expression softened.

“We can’t Nicole. I took a job offer yesterday for Robert and GRT Tech.”

Nicole was stunned. Robert? Of all people. 

“Why didn’t you tell me Waverly? That creep has some weird obsession with you. Not to mention everything he does is probably illegal.”

“Nicole. See. Again. Stop. I can make my own decisions.” 

“Waves, I cant be OK with this.” Nicole said defiantly.

“And I need you to be if this is going to work.” Waverly said loudly.

The two women stood in silence, staring at each other.

“This isn’t going to work right now is it?” Nicole said as tears started to run down her cheek.

With matching tears Waverly walked to Nicole and put her hand on the back of her neck. “I think we just need to take time to start all of this adult stuff on our own after graduation. See where we end up.” 

Nicole places a small kiss on Waverly’s forehead , and pulled away slightly. “Waverly, I just want you to be happy and if you need space, that’s what I’ll give you.”

As their hands intertwined in front of each other they hesitantly pressed their lips together, tasting the faintly salted tears one last time.

“Ms. Haught” 

——

“Ms. Haught… Ms. Haught!” Joe was now saying at a louder tone.

Nicole jumped in her seat, taking her out of the memory and back to reality.

“Sorry ma’am, but we are here at the office.”

“Oh, yes, thanks Joe, and please for the hundredth time– Nicole .”

Nicole stepped out and made her way into the building. As she took it all in, the building, the lobby, the employees greeting her as she passed, she couldn’t regret the decisions she’s made. 

She was running a little behind for a meeting with the head of her IT team. She rushed into one of the conference rooms and apologized for her tardiness.

Perry, the head of her IT was sitting at the head chair with a presentation pulled up on the computer screen at the other end of the room. 

“It’s ok, I don’t have much but it’s a good start.” Perry continued.

“It’s definitely coming from somewhere local. They tripped up on the last attempt, they didn’t cover their tracks with where the IP address was bouncing. See, an IP is very unique to the user and can track location, history-“

Nicole’s phone buzzed.

Nicole held up her hand. “Perry. I know what an IP address is, I founded this company, just tell me the important items.”

Nicole’s phone buzzed.

Perry embarrassingly smiled. “Well, in previous attempts, they bounced their IP address in so many countries, devices, by the time it got here, we had no idea where it was coming from. It’s like if someone was taking a trip and took ten different cabs from location A to location B and paid cash. Tracking that original cab can get messy.”

“Last night, they must have gotten lazy and used a self maintained VPN to try and mask their IP, but that’s a rookie move- meaning they hacked from a specific location and it was traceable. And they are definitely going after the medical records.”

“Perry, this is great. Well it’s not great for us, but can we have someone contact authorities to get an address from the internet service provider?” Nicole said with hope in her voice.

“In the mean time, change servers on that account and let the client know.”

Nicole was always confident in her decision making.

Nicole’s phone buzzed.

“Absolutely, and it might take a bit but we can at least see who pays the bills on the service provider of the IP address.”

“Excellent, thank you.”

——

Nicole made her way up to the top floor, walking and looking down at her phone at all the messages. Wynonna. Late again.

Nicole made her way to her desk and opened the text message to Waverly once more. Not yet.

——

Waverly woke up with the same pep in her step. All morning she was thinking about Nicole. She arrived at her usually quite building, singing, as it echoed off of the cold gray walls in the lobby. Waverly always brought fresh baked goods to the guards. She was the one person they would chat with.

“Thank you so much Waverly!” As the guard greeted her with a smile and took a whiff of the bag. “Ahh, blueberry ? You always know my favorite!”

Waverly got off the elevator with her attention at her phone, starting to text Nicole, she crashed directly into a woman as she turned the corner.

“Wynonna!”

“Ah, shit , baby girl, working out more lately? Ouch.”

“And damn! You look good today! Like the button up, blue is your color.” 

Henry walked out of his office when he heard the commotion, adjusting his belt.

Waverly looked between the two of them.

She pressed her lips together and hummed “Mmhmm.” 

“Shut it. I gotta jet though, late for Haughtpants.”

Wynonna yelled down the hall as the elevator doors closed “Henry- don’t forget!” 

He gave a disgruntled look.

Waverly walked over to Henry.

“Can I get your time this morning, I ran into a few things last night, I’d like your help.”

“Of course Waverly, whatever you need.” Henry responded and they both went into Waverly’s office.

As Henry sat down, wasting no time, Waverly started in on her discoveries. 

She paced and talked quietly with her voice, louder with her hands. “Ok, look, I know we aren’t suppose to talk about this here but I think I finally found something. Robert seems to be in over his head and made a mistake.”

“I found paper work with patient files of some sort, but it’s mostly redacted. Also, all the construction late at night, I know you’ve noticed that – can you somehow snoop around in the testing factory ? I know he doesn’t let us out there but maybe you could use your relationship with him ?”

Henry put his index and middle finger in his collar to loosen his tie. He let out a heavy sigh as he knew this could be dangerous. Robert was a loose cannon.

“Well, first off, I don’t think we can take the information you found to them yet, we do need more proof or they could come charging in and expose us if we show our cards early. Our freedom depends on finding out what Robert is up to” Henry said as he rubbed his mustache with his index finger and thumb.

He reassured a nervous looking Waverly “Ok, I will check things out. I’ll let you know what I find.”

——

It was almost the end of the day at C.J. Wynonna was finally in her office as the other employees were packing up for the day. 

Wynonna’s office was comically bare. A desk, a chair, and one lamp. 

She took out her phone to text Henry.

W: Did you do it!!?  
Hot Doc: Yes Wynonna, I did it. I took and hid Waverly’s house keys. I feel terrible. I hope this works.  
W: Good. I’ll get them tomorrow. Or how about tonight? My office?  
Hot Doc: That’ll do just fine.  
W: See you then. Glad you finally took those texting lessons from Jeremy.

*1 new message from Waverly.

Waverly : Wynonna , I cant find my house keys anywhere. Can you meet me at home? It’s fudging freezing out!

W: I can’t , stuck at work. I’ll have someone drop them off though.

Waverly : thanks sis! Hurryyyy.

Nicole knocked on Wynonna’s door and came in.

“Haught ! Just the girl I need to see.”

“Wynonna, that statement never ends well. I just wanted to let you know I’m headed out for the night.” Nicole said as her hand was still on the door handle about to leave.

“No , wait! I’m swamped.” Wynonna pretended to click on a keyboard of a computer that wasn’t turned on.

“Waverly forgot her house keys , can you please bring them to her?”

Nicole half heartedly protested. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Please Nic, see I’m being serious, no Haught joke. I just need help and trust me I saw her this morning she isn’t wearing much and it’s cold out.”

Nicole’s eyebrows shot up at the thought. She let out a sigh. “Fine, I’ll have Joe drive me there before I go home.” 

Nicole looked around at the emptiness that was Wynonna’s office. “But, you have to promise me to fill this office with SOMETHING, soon.” 

——  
Nicole finally made it to the home, it was the start of winter and the afternoon temperatures were so cold it made it hard to breathe. The ride all the way down the driveway was bumpy, but Nicole could see Waverly’s red Jeep from a mile away. She quickly fixed her hair in a compact mirror and checked for any lunch remnants in her teeth.

She made her way out of the SUV to meet Waverly at her Jeep, the now frozen ground was crunching below her shoes. 

She was shocked to see Nicole and stepped out immediately when she saw her get out of the SUV.

“Nicole?” Waverly said confused.

“Uh ya, Hey Waves, Wynonna was busy but wanted me to drop these off.” Nicole awkwardly reached out her hand and placed the keys into the other woman’s half outreached hand. She quickly retracted her arm to back to her warm body that was starting to shiver.

“Oh. Well thank you so much you didn’t have to do that. Can I make it up to you? Have you eaten? I promise I’ve gotten great at cooking” Waverly said.

“Ummm. I haven’t. ” Nicole thought, glancing down and around, then at Joe waiting in the SUV.

“Sure, why not. Let me just tell Joe he can go home I don’t want to hold him up.”

“Great, I’ll get started.” Waverly couldn’t help the large smile on her face.

Nicole came back in the house. She had successfully avoided the place ever since the day her and Waverly parted ways. She took off her shoes and hung her coat up. The house smelled sweet, it was an older home, but charming. Each entryway to a room was framed by tiered white moulding, original hardwood floors and simple pastel colored décor. 

Nicole entered the kitchen and cleared her throat to not scare Waverly that she was entering the room. She took in the sight of Waverly still in her work clothes from the day, a floral skirt, matching button up but now she had the most adorable unicorn apron on as she was cutting vegetables.

“Hope you like vegetable lasagna, figured it might be a good compromise to a meat eater vs. a non.” Waverly continued to chop.

“Oh that’s perfect actually, I went vegetarian after college anyway.” Nicole replied.

Waverly smiled as the knife cut through a carrot and popped against the cutting board.

“Can I help?” Nicole asked.

“Yes, how about you open the wine and I’ll pop this in the oven.” Waverly gestured over to the counter and Nicole popped open the bottle of red and poured two large glasses.

Waverly took Nicole on a tour. She showed her the first floor: living room, dining room that was off of the kitchen and Wynonna’s room. She then moved to the second floor as she was pointing out all the upgrades and renovations her and Wynonna completed. Upstairs was a guest room, Waverly’s room and a bathroom. Waverly walked completely in her room but Nicole hung out in the doorway, admiring. Purple. Lots of purple. 

Nicole’s eyes made her way to a desk and noticed a delicate angel wing statue that her mother gave her before she abandoned the family and a photo. She squinted her eyes as she recognized it. The photo was only of Waverly and Wynonna but she knew better. If someone happened to take the photo out they would have to unfold it. And if they unfolded it, it would show the remaining person in the photo. Nicole. 

This whole time Waverly was going on about renovations but Nicole was half listening looking at the photo. She was intrigued. She knew that was the day they went up to the lake to hike. The day the two first kissed. Did she keep it knowing that ?

The two were interrupted by the oven timer.

As they ate, the wine kept flowing and the conversations about work and old memories were filling the room.

Nicole was feeling so entranced once again by Waverly. The way she made her feel was unlike anything she has felt in years. The emotions were flooding back hard.

“And oh my goodness, do you remember that time Wynonna drove her truck into those jocks for whistling at me?” Waverly could barely get out the last of the sentence she was giggling so hard.

“YES ! She could have killed them! That girl certainly has kept me on my toes for years.” Nicole laughed back.

Waverly smiled and push a few remaining pieces of food around her plate “I’m glad you’ve had her. I mean just these past years I’m glad you two have stayed so close.”

Nicole nodded her and finished the last bite on her plate. “Me too, I’m also really glad you came out yesterday. I don’t know why we waited so long.”

The two women cleaned up and continued talking on the couch, side by side, facing each other with one leg folded on the seat cushion for comfort in front of the lit fireplace and another glass of wine.

“So , work, hows everything.” Nicole asked as she put her elbow on the back of the couch and rested her head on her hand.

Waverly took a moment to herself. When she looked at Nicole she felt comfortable and safe, something she hasn’t felt in a few years. And Nicole sitting there, she wanted nothing more than to put her glass down and do anything but answer that question.

“Ah, you don’t want to hear about that.” Waverly tried to dismiss the question.

“Well sure I do, I mean it looks like you’ve done an amazing job” Nicole said.

“It’s been great, you know how it is, it’s not perfect. Some things I would change. I feel like I’ve been there forever , and looking back I maybe would have made a few better decisions but no going back now.” Waverly took a big sip of her wine at that.

There was something about Waverly’s tone, and Nicole knew there was something else going on. And if she had learned anything all those years ago, it wasn’t her place to push.

“I hear that. What’s your biggest regret then.” Nicole followed up.

“Oof. That’s a tough one. Right now, I guess I just wish I took my time trusting people with a few things” Waverly said as she looked down, concerned, but quickly recovered “what about you, what’s your biggest regret?”

“Hiring Wynonna.” Nicole deadpanned. “No, I’m kidding. Hmm… I guess maybe enjoyed the scenery one and while.”

Waverly looked directly into Nicole’s eyes at that moment. She think she knew what she meant. But maybe it was in her head. She did know that when she looked into her eyes she still saw everything they held, mostly her heart.

Nicole broke the contact. “Oh wow, look at the time, I’m sorry I really have to go.” 

She stood up quickly, slightly wobbly from the wine but managed to order an Uber from her phone.

“Oh, I’m so sorry you probably have to be up early.” The pair went in to the kitchen and Waverly went to grab Nicole’s glass as their hands touched. Nicole swallowed hard at the sudden feeling of warmth on her hand, the two stayed like that for a moment.

Nicole’s phone dinged. Waverly was the first to break contact as she turned and placed the glasses in the sink.

Nicole looked at the notification on her phone. “That’s my ride.” She practically ran to put on her coat and shoes and turned to Waverly. “Let’s do this again soon, thank you so much everything was fantastic.” Nicole left in such a hurry, Waverly barely said bye. When Nicole left Waverly stood with her back against the door, confused. Did she do something wrong?

Nicole made it out to the car but couldn’t hold it in anymore. She wasn’t going to let words go unspoken anymore. Screw the too soon or too fast. She was more sure of that fact as the years went on. 

Waverly was still at the door when a sudden knock against her back startled her. When she opened the door it was Nicole.

“Oh , did you forget something?” 

“Yes…well, no. I want a redo on the question.” Nicole stated as her warm breath was visible in the cold air as she spoke.

“What question?” Waverly asked confused.

“My biggest regret.” Nicole said as she stared into the prettiest hazel eyes she has ever seen.

Waverly caught her breath.

“You. You, Waverly.”

Waverly had a sad look on her face.

“ No Waves, not YOU, but 8 years ago I made the dumbest decision by not fighting harder for us and I have thought about you for more days than I can count.” Nicole was feverishly searching the hazel eyes looking for a response. 

Waverly didn’t know how to react. She knew when she saw Nicole again it was like the past 8 years didn’t exist and the feelings were still just as strong. She stood there silent.

“Ok, I’m sorry, I just had to get that out before I left, I couldn’t leave without saying that. I know it’s a lot, and I know it’s only been hours since we reconnected but I’m done being this person that thinks too much” Nicole started to turn around, embarrassed at what just came hurling out but Waverly grabbed her hand. Before Nicole knew it Waverly had Nicole into a deep passionate kiss, making up for the years their lips weren’t touching. It was like they never stopped. Every touch , every strand of hair Waverly’s hand ran though on Nicole’s head felt so soft and familiar. Nicole kept her hand steadily on Waverly’s hips, feeling them move as the kiss deepened, they moved in sync as their bodies remembered the dance. 

Nicole pulled away but never broke eye contact. “Wow.”

Waverly laughed. 

The Uber driver beeped his horn.

The two woman pulled closer together, daring for round two. Nicole smiled.

“Ok, I should probably go for now. But Ms. Earp I’d like to continue this conversation later.” 

“Yes please.” Waverly whispered back.

The two held hands until the distance forced the break.

Waverly once again shut her door but this time broke out in what appeared to be a scene from Rocky when he climbed the steps. Her hands were in the air a sort of victory formation as she ran in place. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt this good.

Her phone in her pocket was buzzing. She answered.

“What Nicole, couldn’t stay away for two minutes?” 

“No, Waverly, it’s Henry.”

The concerned tone in his voice made Waverly expression drop.

“We may have a problem. Can you meet me at the office?” 

“I’ll be right there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	3. Creep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look in to what happened to Waverly and Doc all those years ago, and what seems to be falling in thier lap in the present.

Waverly drove fast to the city, her knuckles white from clutching the steering wheel so tight, thoughts were flooding in as she reflected on what started this all.

* * *

2011:

“Ma’am.”

Waverly was staring off into the open air of the shop as she snapped back to reality, thinking and repeating, 2-7-4. Two hundred seventy four.

 

The barista spoke again, “Coffee is $2.74.”

Waverly smiled and politely placed the money, exact change, into the hand of a taller man.

It was another morning. Another drive to the parking garage. Another walk to the office building. Another pit stop to her favorite coffee shop.

At least the sun was out. The mid winter chill was in the air, but the bright light felt warm on her face. She balanced her hot beverage in her right hand and her hips swayed to keep balance as she walked briskly in heeled boots, smiling at each stranger passing.

She went through the same routine at the lobby of her building. Boots off. Belt off. Cell phone and purse in a plastic tote. The slow, step by step walk through the metal detector. The red to green overhead light. The beep of approval.

The guard looked at the screen, which held a counter for the number of scans on her employee ID. “All set Ms. Earp. Wow almost nine months here, congratulations.”

Waverly turned back to the guards and started walking backwards to the elevator, smiling. “Well look at that. Who knew?”

She knew. 274 days to be exact. 274 days of working under Robert Svane.

Waverly kept track in her head a few months after she started. She was doing great work there, but she wasn’t happy working for him. Robert was a different kind of person – extremely smug, always demanded perfection, his mood swings were downright scary and for the life of her Waverly could never understand how such an awful man had such a good fashion sense.

Waverly stepped in to the elevator, glancing at the camera in the corner of the ceiling. She always felt watched no matter where she went in the building. When she was alone in the elevator it was her small section of time to not be bubbly Waverly. To not be do whatever it takes to get the job done Waverly. She stood straight faced, unable to fake the smile. Around the 9th floor, on cue, the smile appeared again. She whispered as the floor changed to ‘10’, “You got this Earp.” The words became her internal mantra.

The elevator doors opened, every inch they moved exposed a new section of marble floor in her line of sight. She swears every time she looks at the floors she finds a new pattern of grey in the white base.

Waverly walked past Henry’s closed office, questioning if she should knock because he is usually there before her every morning. But, she walked by and continued down the hall to her door at the end, opening the door with no key. She could have sworn she locked it. Without much thought or effort, she tossed her coat on a rack in the corner and shut the door behind her. As she sat down at her desk and the door swung shut she let out a loud gasp and firmly slammed her palms on the desk as her knee hit the under side of the wood surface, shaking all the objects on the top side.

Waverly took in the sight that made her heart drop into her stomach. She let out her breath, “Robert.”

He was standing in silence behind where the door just closed from, leaning up against the wall with one foot bent on it, already in her office before she was.

“Waverly, my darling. Pleasant morning to you.”

_What a creep._

He moved from the shadow on the wall, his dark fitting suit only made it feel like the shadow was growing as he made a move. He took an exaggerated step with his long limbs towards the chair in front of the woman’s desk.

He sat down and crossed one leg over the other and stared at Waverly with a long grin.

Waverly knew this was an intimidation tactic. One that never worked on her.

She matched his smile with one of her own, and sat silently until he made the first move.

_Come on asshole I have things to do._

Robert was well put together, always had on an expensive suit with a third piece and his pocket watch that hung from a vest. That damn pocket watch, Waverly thought. Certain days she could hear it over people talking in meetings if her attention focused just right. It’s annoyance was comparable to a dripping faucet in a quiet house at bedtime.

He was always exaggerating his movement as he talked -hands, facial expressions, always distracted by nearby objects he had to touch.

“Hmm, well my dear, I just was checking on the paperwork for the project next week. All financials are in order I assume. Everything signed, ready to go?” His right hand was waving in the air, then found itself onto a few pens sitting in a holder on Waverly’s desk in front of him.

Waverly looked down at his hand circling a pen in the container, then picking one up and clicking it over and over.

“I have a few more contracts to go over but, sure, they will be on your desk by the end of the day.” Waverly solidified her statement with a smile.

He tossed the pen back in to the container, disrupting the just so placement of the other writing utensils.

“Perfect. I’ll leave you to it.”

When Robert exited her office, Waverly mimicked “perfect” as she reset the placement of the now disturbed container.

——

Waverly hadn’t move since that morning. She was knee deep in the work Robert wanted from her and when she finally picked her head up from the papers, a stiffness burned up her spine.

It was now lunch time and Henry was standing in her doorway, with his wool coat over his shoulder, watching as she grimaced and rubbed the back of her neck with one hand.

“Waverly, lets go get some lunch, you have to be positively exhausted.”

She smiled and nodded. “Hmmm, I think you’re right.”

The duo took a cab further into the city. They were both craving a very popular Italian restaurant with a cafeteria style lunch menu and tried to make it there before the rush.

When they arrived, the placed was packed, worth it, but the line was long and Waverly was impatiently tapping her foot trying to look over the crowd every so often to see if her favorite pasta dish was still available. She could smell the garlic and bread and the flavors of the sauce in the air. It was making her more hungry than she has ever been.

Henry was standing behind her patiently waiting and surveying the room. He was so meticulous with every move he made, always carefully examining the room, the people, their movements. Waverly had always tried to pry in to Henry’s past but could never really get much out of him other than he was a private investigator. He was always so precise with his work he earned himself the nickname of “Doc” to his close friends.

He then focused his attention on a tall, dark and handsome man standing in front of Waverly. This man wasn’t directly looking at the two behind him but had his head turned in a way that made Henry think he was at least listening to their small talk and using his peripheral vision to take glances at Waverly.

As Waverly’s turn came up to the buffet, she was ecstatic that there was enough left of the penne pasta she wanted. Her lucky day after all. She giddily tugged at Henry’s coat which elicited a laugh from the otherwise stoic man.

The man in front of Waverly continued on as he took his plate to a table and Henry lost track as he took some garlic rolls from the line.

The two snaked their way through the crowd, being careful not to drop their plates as they tried to find a place to sit. They finally laid their eyes on a table with four chairs left and sat down next to each other.

When they got settled, a finger tapped Waverly’s shoulder. As she followed the finger up the arm, to the face, she laid upon a gorgeous woman, long limbs, dark hair and piercing eyes.

The stranger quietly started. “Hi , so sorry, do you mind if my girlfriend and I take these other two seats? Seems to be the last available.”

Waverly looked at Henry for reassurance of her nod.

“Oh no problem, please.”

“Thanks, she should be back soon.” The woman said

The woman sat down and now Waverly could actually look at her. She was wearing a lab coat under her winter jacket she discarded over the small wooden chair. The name was hard to read as it was bunched up in the fabric.

“Shae, by the way. Thanks again.”

Waverly then stuck out her hand.

“Waverly. And this here is Henry.”

“Ma’am.”

Moments later another plate hit the table.

All Waverly took in of the stranger was red braided hair and a blue blazer as her face was turned toward Shae with a small kiss to her cheek. Her coat then covered her face as she removed it and put it on the back of the chair.

In that moment, Waverly realized it was Nicole. The fork she was bringing to her mouth, full with pasta, dropped to the plate. She hadn’t seen or spoken to Nicole since graduation almost nine months ago.

Henry sat as a spectator of the encounter.

“Nicole!” Waverly exclaimed as she hastily picked her utensils up from the plate.

“Waves, wow, I’m sorry I didn’t realize it was you there for a moment.”

The two stared, in awe.

Shae was watching the interaction with suspicion and chimed in. “So you two know each other I take it?”

Nicole snapped out of it, and put her hand on Shae’s “Yes, sweetie, this is Waverly, my… friend from college and Henry.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you two knew each other”, Waverly said motioning between Henry and Nicole.

Nicole blushed.

Henry and Nicole started to explain at the same time, but Nicole’s voice won Waverly’s attention.

“He visits Wynonna at the office. Every… now and then.”

Waverly smiled and nodded in understanding as she glanced at Henry.

Henry just shrugged his shoulders and took a bit of his garlic roll.

The group began to eat their lunch, exchanging awkward glances and smiles amidst silence. For such a loud restaurant the silence at their table was the loudest.

Waverly broke the air. “So I take it things are well? Wynonna never offers much about work life since she started working there.”

“Yes, absolutely. Going great! I’m glad she accepted my offer after her trip to Greece.” Nicole seemed too excited.

Shae started in, “oh please babe, great?” Then furrowed her eyebrows and put her arm around Nicole and rubbed her shoulder. “You obviously know her so I don’t need to tell you but she works way too much, it was hard enough to get her out here, right babe?”

Waverly’s eyes were glued to Shae’s arm on Nicole. Nicole noticed Waverly’s expression drop from half interested to sad and gently removed her girlfriends arm.

Waverly quietly took a deep breath.

_Really? Babe. IM babe._

Waverly need to get out there fast. She felt the panic in her gut since seeing Nicole rise to her throat.

“Ah! Doc! Look at the time. We REALLY need to go. That, thing. You know?”

Waverly stood up quickly and picked up her tray.

“Shae, it was great to meet you, Nicole… great to see you.”

She then turned around and began walking away, leaving her winter hat over her chair.

“Wa-Waves!” Nicole said said loudly and went after the brunette.

Henry remained at the table for a few minutes with Shae, taking the final bites of his meal. He gave her a polite nod and stood up slowly. His hat that sat on the table was gently placed on his head.

“Old friends and all. It was great to meet you, I best be going, can’t keep the boss waiting.”

Shae offered back a polite smile and nod.

Henry picked up Waverly’s winter hat from the back of the chair and graciously back pedaled with an awkward wave then started for the exit.

Nicole caught up to Waverly a half block from the restaurant. For being so small she sure moved fast. In that moment Nicole was thankful for her long legs.

When Nicole caught up to her at the crosswalk she grabbed Waverly’s hand. Waverly was in such a hurry she forgot to put her gloves on and her hand was cold to the touch, and her rings felt frozen in Nicole’s hand. Nicole took a moment to feel and remember what Waverly’s hand felt like under her own. Her skin was so soft and her nail polish color was always bright. Her thumb brushed the corner of a square vintage Art Deco ring. Her heart warmed when she remembered she was there when Waverly bought it at an antique barn one warm summer night.

“Waverly , please. I’m sorry we ran into each other like this. I haven’t heard from you in so long I –we just started seeing each other. I wanted to call you but -”

Waverly felt the instant loss of warmth from Nicole’s hand on her own as she pulled away. Waverly’s mind was racing and her face showed it. “It’s fine, Nic. Really. I – I don’t know why I’m like this right now, just old habits I guess. And you’re right, you haven’t heard from me, it’s been a whirlwind since graduation. I’ve been trying to keep up with C.J., you seem like you are doing great. But you should go back. Shae , she is probably all alone and wondering where you are.”

Waverly started to walk away. Nicole feeling the distance with every step.

“It really was good seeing you.” Waverly turned and crossed the street as the walking sign turned, leaving Nicole silent and watching her cross the street.

Henry caught up to Nicole and briefly nodded at her as he ran across the road to catch up to Waverly now almost to the other side and hailing a cab.

——  
Waverly got back to her office and felt mentally tired.

She wanted to put her head down on the desk and just close her eyes. Seeing Nicole with that woman made her heart ache. She figured the two were just taking time to build their careers but would find each other soon. She never thought of another person since Nicole but knew she was a fool to think no one would try to be with Nicole. She was loyal, intelligent, an amazing business woman. She deserved someone that was all those things in return and Waverly just never felt she was.

She had a few more contracts to go through and sign. She looked down at her pen on the right, her phone on the left. She’d been feeling so guilty from earlier, she had been so focused on work the past nine months she had completely shut Nicole out. She knew Nicole never deserved that and knew Nicole was just respecting her and giving her space.

She made up her mind which direction to move her hand.

“Well this day can’t get any worse.”

Waverly picked her phone up and started to text Nicole.

W: Hey Nicole. I just wanted to say I’m sorry about today. Maybe we can catch up soon. Shae seems very nice.

She set her phone down, still brightly lit and on the message screen.

The phone didn’t even have a chance to go dark when Waverly noticed the “…” on the conversation.

Then it stopped.

Then it started.

“…”

Then it stopped again.

Waverly was anxiously awaiting the message, the phone now in her hand again and close to her face, eyes squinting.

Her heart sank when the message came through.

Nicole: Hey Waves. It’s totally ok. I’ve just been trying to give you your space. How about this weekend?

Of course, she thought. As Waverly was typing back, Henry knocked on her door.

He stood in the doorway, his jacket was thrown over his shoulder once again. “Hi there. I’m headed out, just wanted to uhh, check in on you, you seemed upset earlier if you want to talk.”

Waverly tossed a dismissive hand wave to Henry and smiled.

“It’s all good, thanks Doc. Just finishing up everything for Robert. A little overwhelmed.”

Henry shook his head and smirked. “Well don’t stay too late. Goodnight Waverly.”

As the evening settled on the city, and the bright lights were starting to shine from the buildings and street lights, Waverly got ready to leave. She bundled all the contracts for Robert , swung her coat on, and shut off the lights as she made her way to top floor of the building where his office was situated.

When she got off the elevator again, a woman was at a desk, typing away in front of a large glass office that had all the lights shut off. It reminded Waverly of a fish bowl.

Waverly stood at the woman’s desk. She was clearly ignoring Waverly typing away as her long nails hit the keys on the keyboard.

She shyly cleared her throat.

“Good evening Stephanie, I didn’t expect you to be here.”

The blonde woman gave Waverly a rude look.

“Of course I would be here. Being Roberts secretary is a job I take very seriously. Unlike some people.”

Waverly shot the woman a look and almost gave it back to her. But it was late and Waverly was tired.

“Can you please give these to Robert in the morning, he is expecting them.”

Stephanie ripped the papers out of Waverly’s hand. “Sure thing.”

Stephanie snapped a bubble of gum and continued to to type away on her keyboard, never looking at Waverly.

“Great, ok. See you tomorrow.” Waverly said through a clenched jaw.

Waverly was relived the exchange only lasted minutes and made her way to her car.

It was dark out now, the air was colder than the mid- day lunch rush and the majority of the city workers had gone home for the night as Waverly found herself the only one on the sidewalk walking toward the parking garage.

Something felt off. A feeling in her gut didn’t sit right, it was almost too quite. She started to walk faster to her Jeep, feeling slight relief as it was in her eye sight now, but also feeling confusion as she still saw Henry’s red car in the row behind hers, he had been in her doorway hours ago. She was a few steps away when a deep, commanding, voice came from the other side of her Jeep.

“Waverly Earp.” As the man came from the shadow, she could see how tall and muscular he was, even through his layered black and white suit.

“Who needs to know?” Waverly said, stopped in her tracks right before the drivers side door.

“Miss, I need you to come with me.” The voice said coldly again.

Waverly was frozen. Her heart was in her gut and her breathing began to pick up. She managed to put her keys in between her fingers for defense if he got any closer. There was something about this that was definitely threatening, but also non threatening at the same time, the man wasn’t brandishing any weapons and seemed to be keeping somewhat of a distance. She stood there as she watches his movements closely.

“Look, dude, I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Ms. Earp, I am agent Xavier Dolls, BBD. And we need to talk.” Agent Dolls took his badge from his coat and showed Waverly.

A large black SUV pulled behind her Jeep. The window rolled down and Henry was in the back seat.

Waverly felt a small relief seeing Henry.

“Waverly, it’s ok, please get in.”

Waverly peaked further into the SUV.

“Then why are you hands tied behind your back.”

Dolls chimed in, “Its what happens when you don’t comply.”

With a cold motion of his arm towards the car, “Now ma’am I won’t ask again, please get in the car.”

Waverly, now irritated, sighed and hopped up into the SUV. She had recognized the BBD name from various certification courses with the government she needed to take over the past few months, she knew if you ever ran in to them, it was probably too late to fix any mistakes as they were a federal, internal investigation team.

Agent Dolls opened the other door and sat into a set of seats that faced the direction of Henry and Waverly. He adjusted his black suit coat, black tie, and took out a large file of papers neatly tucked into a grey folder. His movements trying to get the documents out from between the seats caused the leather the squeak below him. He handed the folder over to Waverly as Henry wasn’t getting out of the cuffs any time soon.

She shuffled through the papers, eyes fixed on every piece of information they contained. Henry stuck his neck to the side to get a glimpse, but he mostly fidgeted and eyed Dolls as he watched him look at Waverly thumb through the files.

Waverly finally spoke, frustrated. “I’m confused. These are my contracts for the work we do at GRT. What’s the problem?”

Waverly made it further into the stack, now taking in the photos her eyes laid upon. Photos of her, Henry, Robert - going in to work, out on the weekends, eating lunch. One caught her eye, it was a photo of that day. Her and Nicole on the sidewalk after Waverly left the restaurant.

Frustration turned to anger. “What the hell is this?”

“We have been surveilling GRT and Robert for almost a year. We are bringing you two in because we need your help. Someone from the inside” Dolls said.

“Help you what?” Waverly questioned.

Dolls took a deep breath. “Bring down Robert. From what I’ve observed it seems as though you two have no clue what he has been up to, but if you look at the those contracts, you’ll see yours and Henry’s name all over them. If Robert goes down, so do the both of you as accessories to the crimes.”

Dolls briefly paused.

“He has been pulling off the illegal, immoral and downright disgusting creation of technology for basically the black market of the military. What he develops hurts innocent people. Bottom line.”

Waverly tried to talk but Dolls continued.

“Problem is , he is good. He hides behind a legitimate business and hires smart, unknowing victims like yourselves. He completes the contracts as is and we think he is building in extra money to use as funds for the illegal operation. We just need to find where his extra curricular activities are being built and more specifically what else he has planned.”

“We could march in there now with what we have, bring all of you down at once and that’s what my boss wants, but what we have are small dealings, I know there is something bigger here and I’ve convinced her this is a good play. I think if you two help me, I could help you avoid jail time.”

Waverly and Henry sat in silence. Shocked. It was a lot of information to retain.

Dolls continued. “I know he has something bigger planned. He has been buying supplies for months but it’s not really adding up without being able to take a look. And I don’t want to act just yet. I want to give him time to dig a hole so big he won’t be able to get out of by the time we take him. But again, I need your help. I need documentation, I need inside knowledge of what’s going on. And in exchange, you two won’t know what the inside of a federal prison looks like.”

Henry spoke with disgust behind his voice. “You make it sound like we have a choice Agent Dolls.”

“Look. I’m giving you two an out here. I will provide any assistance as I can. I don’t know how long it will take but you have my word if you provide good intel, you won’t be implicated in any of his dealings.”

It all hit Waverly at once. She was unknowingly pressing the heel of her hand into her thigh so hard she’d likely have a bruise in the morning.

“How is this happening. Robert is a creep but actually building things and funding them from my contracts that I had no idea about? Hurting people?”

“Oh my goodness Doc what am I going to do, orange is not color.”

Waverly was on the verge of a breakdown.

Henry suddenly reached his hand out from behind him to comfort Waverly. Dolls glared and wondered how the in the world he got out of the cuffs.

“Well, I think that’s good for tonight. We will be in touch. For now, just don’t raise suspicion, do what you always do and if you see anything out of the ordinary, let us know. Number is on the back, order the burrito special if you need to talk to me” Dolls said as he handed out two business cards. The cards were for a taco food truck, “Wheelin’ Tacos”.

“Fine.” Waverly coldly said as she swung the car door open.

Henry held out his left hand so Dolls could unlock the other half of the cuffs still stuck to him.

The two exited the SUV and watched as it screamed away around the garage until it wasn’t in sight.

Henry watched as Waverly began to cry and pulled her into his chest.

“It’ll be ok.” Henry said as he rubbed the back of Waverly’s hair.

“You don’t know that.” Waverly pulled away, no longer crying but angry.

As Waverly turned and started to pace, Henry tried to reason with her.

“Well, I don’t, but we have to be careful now. I certainly am not going to jail on a count of some asshole. Let’s just find what they need and this can be all over before we know it.”

Waverly shook her head. “Doc they have photos of me from months ago. They had a photo of Nicole and I, Wynonna. We have to keep this between us. From here on out me and you on this ok? I don’t want anyone getting hurt, we have no idea the extent of whatever Robert is up to.”

Henry’s jaw clenched at the mention of Wynonna’s name. The last thing in the world he would want us for her to get dragged in to this if he confided in her.

Waverly looked at her phone, she opened her last text to Nicole. It was plans to see her that weekend from before. Her thumb ran over the contact photo she had added in long ago. It was her favorite photo from a time in college when they went bowling - a warm smile with dimples in full bloom.

She knew she couldn’t risk her being involved if she let her back into her life, even if that meant not seeing or speaking to her till this whole thing blew over.

Henry nodded. “Ok. Let’s do this.”

Waverly got in her Jeep, still trying to process all the information, but opened the conversation with Nicole again.

Waverly: actually it’s probably best if we don’t. I’m not ready yet. I think today proved that. I really do wish the best for you Nicole.

Waverly took a deep breath as the tears threatened to come out, the pressure in her head was started to build as she gripped the steering wheel and shook her head. She wasn’t going to let them win.

——

* * *  
Present:

Waverly was continued to speed all the way to the office. Henry had told her to go quick. She knew not to get overly excited. They had been in this position before over the past 8 years but this time everything seemed to be falling in place again and just maybe this was what they needed.

Waverly met Henry outside of the main office building. It was dark and cold but mostly quiet. All the shops were closed and it was just the two on the sidewalk. Henry motioned toward the alley way on the side of the building. As they walked down the long stretch of darkness, the crunch of salt below their feet echoed between the buildings. The back of the building was the edge of the city, it faced a few acres of land where there were several structures they used for testing of equipment and technology GRT was legitimately building for the government, or so they thought.

“We need to get out there, I’ll show you what I found.”

They had kept a side by side ATV for quick trips out to the land in a small secure parking lot. They typically needed to swipe a security card to open the door but instead opted to climb the 6 foot chain link fence so there was no trace they were there that night. Henry helped Waverly over the fence and then went to work on the lock on the gate so they could get out. Henry had the lock picked in no time as Waverly started up the vehicle.

As the two drove over the building, Henry started to explain, raising his voice over the cold wind passing through them and the motor of the ATV.

“Wynonna was complaining the other day about a huge pile of dirt in the elevator. I couldn’t let it go after you mentioned the construction and this was the only place I knew where that could come from so I came out here earlier.”

The two arrived at the farthest building, Henry parked the ATV in a dark spot by the woods next to the building to hide vehicle.

Waverly walked around the ATV to Henry who was taking out flashlights, and ropes.

Waverly placed her hands on her hips as she looked at the tan brick building in front of her. “So, how do we get in now?”

Henry looked up to the sky, and smirked.

“We go up.”

The two walked over to the side of the building where a rusty iron ladder scaled to the top of the building, it wasn’t a very tall structure, about 4 floors high.

Henry motioned for Waverly to go first, but she shot him a look.

As Waverly raised her eyebrows and pointed to her clothes, “Um , no. You first. Skirt.”

Henry gave her a polite apologizing smile and started up the ladder.

The clinking of the bottom of their shoes hitting the metal was the only thing that could be heard. The rooftop they landed on had a thin layer of loose gravel that crunched below their feet, there was a skylight illuminating a small amount of light in the middle that Henry was working to open. Waverly was shivering as the rooftop exposed her to the full gust of wind in the winter air as she brushed her now rust covers hands on her skirt.

She moved to Henry to help him tie the rope to a crossbar on the window that was now opened and tossed it down to the room below. The bottom of the rope hit the floor with a loud thud.

“I’ll go first, then help you down. You ok with that Waverly ?”

Waverly took a deep breath as she nodded her head. She wasn’t exactly dressed to scale down a rope but she knew she had to.

Henry hit the floor first, the tile floor against his boots made a snapping sound, then Waverly was next. They knew what room they were in as they’ve been in it before but Henry knew what he was looking for so Waverly followed him closely.

This particular building was for drone production, the product they mass produced the most for the military. Each floor was lined with metal flat top tables for the engineers to work on the electronics, software and testing. Each floor was typically filled with a few employees working quietly on the different layers of the device with large machines for assistance, but right now all the tables were cleaned up and the machines were covered from the already passed by days work.

The pair made their way down a short hall to an elevator and Henry pressed the level for the ground floor.

“Now I don’t know what any of this is, I briefly caught a glimpse earlier when I came out to check on things after our conversation but it certainly isn’t anything I’ve seen in the scope of our contracts. There were two guards here earlier that cut my view off from the rest of what I quickly saw.”

The elevator doors opened to the ground floor, one floor below the surface. There wasn’t anything special about this floor, it had always been empty, waiting to be filled with work. But when Waverly looked around she smelled earth- saw earth. It was cold, as if they were exposed to the outside air. There was dirt everywhere, and a new door to far end of the room they were standing.

“Doc, we cant get lower, and I’ve never seen that door before so what the hell is this?”

The door was massive. It reminded Waverly of the door she saw the last time her Jeep needed to be fixed at the auto repair shop. Wide enough for two vehicles and as tall as the 20 foot ceiling.

“I know. And that’s where we are headed” Henry said as he pointed to the other end of the room.

The pair walked towards the door, Henry unlatched one side and Waverly unlatched the other as the both lifted the heavy frame. It only took one good heave and the door flung open the rest of the way making a loud crashing noise as the bottom of the hit the threshold at the top.

Waverly, mouth agape and wide eyed, “What the f-.”

“It’s something right?” Henry cut in.

They were staring into a new room. A massive, freshly built room underground. The next building was just 80 yards away and Henry swore they must be inches from it now. The concrete floor looked like it just dried days before they had been there, the lines were crisp and color was light. There was a table to the left of the room, the computers sitting on top looked like they had just arrived as well, they weren’t plugged in. On the other side of the room, to the right, there was a set up of sorts that almost looked like a chemistry lab. In the middle there were empty tanks – five of them. They weren’t very wide, maybe a few feet, but tall, almost 9 feet, and the surrounding plexiglass was so clear they could see right through to the other side of the room.

The pair walked further into the space, taking everything in as they walked slowly. In the middle , just past the tanks, were five hospital beds. Next to each bed was a cart that looked fully stocked with medical supplies and equipment.

There was also a simple wooden writing desk at the head of the five tables with paperwork on it that caught Waverly’s eye. Henry was going though the medical cart as Waverly made her way to the desk, she barely opened the folder when they heard a loud noise from the room they came from.

They both quickly hid behind the nearest bed and stared at each other intently as they were trying to focus on the voices.

A mans voice echoed the room.

“Shit! Miller! We left the damn door open again! We gotta be more careful, boss will kill us next time.”

Waverly could feel her heart beating out of her chest as she looked at Henry who had his hand held out even, raising and lowering it to try to calm Waverly down from ten feet away.

The door they had come in was loudly crashing back down, once they heard the two clicks of the latch they felt slightly calmer. The two held silent for a few more moments before they stood up.

“We need to leave now.” Henry said quickly as he gently placed his hand above Waverly’s elbow.

“How do we even do that?”

“It opens from inside but we need to make sure those two guards are gone, they were here earlier.” Henry then started walking quickly to the door and put his ear to it. He could hear footsteps, then a door close. Waverly was standing behind him and started to grab the bottom of the door to lift. He quickly stopped her motions and lift a finger to his lips – “shhh.” Seconds later the second set of footsteps could be heard, then the door closing again.

Henry took a deep breath.

“Ok. Move quickly and quietly.”

Waverly nodded as the two swiftly unlocked and lifted the door, then slowly put it back down. They ran with light feet on the floor as they hopped in the elevator, back to the top floor. The rope was still dangling as Henry went first. He made it to the top within a minute and Waverly was taking a hold of the rope. As she started the pair heard a voice then footsteps. Waverly was strong and the adrenaline kicked in as she climbed faster. Henry took her hand the rest of the way and pulled her through the skylight window. The two quickly tried to pull the rope up. As the last bit reached the top a man entered the room and briefly looked around, the skylight was still open and the two sat there still as could be. From the limited field of view Henry had he could tell the tall, large man was armed. Nor Henry or Waverly were breathing at this point. After a couple glances around the room, the man walked out.

The two slowly let the air out they had been holding in and continued to quickly and quietly make their way to the ATV.

Not worried about the motor noise at this point they fled the area and made their way back to the alley way of the city street.

Now standing in the safety of familiarity, Waverly was standing with her hands on her hips, catching her breath“Doc, what the hell do we do?”

“I think we need to order some burritos for lunch tomorrow”, Henry said as he rubbed his face, with a bewildered look that never left since the room they discovered.

“Shit. Ok you’re right. This is big now.”

“But, the paperwork I was about to look at… the header on the paper was C.J’s logo. Nicole’s company. What does that mean?”

“There’s no way she is involved. She mentioned problems she was having but there’s no way.”

Henry tilted his head to the side. “Anything is possible, we have certainly learned that.”

“But Doc , we just- I mean she’s my-…ok, look, tomorrow, we need to tell our old friends what we found then we can go from there.”

“Agreed. Try to get some sleep, it may be the start of a bumpy ride tomorrow.” Henry offered Waverly a warm smile as the two departed to their vehicles.

Waverly got to her Jeep and took her phone out to text Nicole.

Waverly: hey, can we do dinner tomorrow?

Nicole instantly responded.

Nicole: I’m shocked you are still awake, it’s really late, are you ok? But yes, of course. My place? 7?

Waverly: all good, just started to work after you left. See you then. Send me your address?

Waverly drove off, adrenaline still pumping through her veins, she thought about how this would all play out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for coming and reading!


	4. Back to Square One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look into what Nicole has been hiding.

Nicole’s tall body relaxed back into the bright fabric chair, she brought her legs up and crashed her feet on top of the table to further a stretch. She turned the page of the papers in her hand,  “Pete York, graduated top of their class, six year stint as a….rodeo clown…interesting.”

 

Nicole raised her eyebrows and let out a heavy sigh as she tossed her head back in frustration, tossing the paper in her hand to the left.

 

She sat alone at the head of the conference table in her office, going over resumes for a newly created marketing position. The television at the other end of the table hanging on the wall facing her was at a low volume, tuned in to the afternoon news.

 

_Thanks for tuning in to the weather on the tens. Buckle up Purgatory, snow storm is headed our way tonight._

 

Nicole was twirling a white pen while actively reading another resume she took from a very large pile of papers in front of her. A few she thought to be acceptable were perfectly placed to her right, and a recycle bin to her left on the floor was overflowing with the resumes that didn’t cut it.

 

_We recommend stocking up, snow removal may take days after this one._

 

Nicole took her time with every application. If people were taking the time to write a page of why they applied, along with their resume, then they deserved her attention. It would be faster for Nicole to browse the resumes on the computer, but there was something about printing them out and feeling the paper in her hand that made her feel like she was accomplishing something. She jotted notes with perfect cursive in the margins as she analyzed the resumes to remind herself of questions to ask during the in person interviews.

 

As Nicole held the last resume in her hand, the door opened and Wynonna stomped  through and plopped her rear end on the table inches from Nicole’s neat stack of survivors, her feet barely dangling above the floor. Unenthused, Nicole removed her glasses and looked up at the grown women seemingly about to throw a tantrum.

 

Wynonna kicked a chair in reach of her leather boot and watched it crash into the wall ten feet away. “Doc is working late tonight and now I have no one to go with me to Shortys.”

 

“Pretty, pretty, please Nic come with me.” Wynonna said while trying to bat her eyelashes but instead blinking her eyes rapidly and almost out of control.

 

Nicole furrowed her eyebrows, “Do you need medical attention or is this display supposed to get me to say yes?”

 

Wynonna pouted. “Ass. I’m trying to do a cute thing over here. I learned it from Waverly.”

 

“Look, I would, but I kind of have a…thing tonight.”

 

Wynonna squinted her eyes and tossed her hand up with a questioning gesture,“A thing?”

 

Hesitantly Nicole explained, “Yes. Like a thing…where…someone comes to my place and… I cook dinner.”

 

Wynonna’s eyes widened and mouth opened, You have a date! At your place!”

 

Wynonna yelled, “With who!?”

 

Nicole took a deep breath and let it out. “That’s what I need to talk to you about.”

 

Nicole closed her eyes, a sick feeling in her gut bubbled to her throat.

 

_Waves is going to kill me._

 

Wynonna sat up straighter on the table as she folded her arms. The fringe hanging from the sleeves on her leather jacket swung as her hands tucked behind her biceps.

 

Nicole was now fidgeting with her glasses, looking down at her hands as they rubbed over the temples, “Um, well, you see.”

 

Wynonna, agitated by Nicole’s delay said sternly, “Listen haught pants, I swear if it’s anyone other than Waverly you’re both dead.”

 

Nicole’s eyes widened and a cough escaped from her lungs, “ex- excuse me?”

 

Wynonna stood up from the table, “Ya, ok, no- I’m not pretending anymore. I know about you two. For a few months now actually. You kind of spewed your guts out to me one night when you were black out drunk.”

 

Nicole cocked her head to the side, “the two week vacation?”

 

Wynonna nodded.

 

Nicole’s tense muscles started to visibly loosen through her button up. “And you’re cool?”

 

“I wasn’t at first. I know Waverly dates women but you? I wanted to drop kick you, I even thought about the ways I could slowly torture you.” Wynonna smirked at the last part of her admission and her eyes drifted into space.

 

Nicole saw the sinister look behind her eyes and was slightly scared. “This is making total sense now. The past couple months you have been mentioning Waverly so much, and trying to get us in the same room.”

 

Wynonna chuckled, “It all made sense to me too. In college, I was drunk half the time but thinking back, shit, how could I have missed that. Maybe I subconsciously tried to ignore it. Who knows. And I probably would have killed you then. I wasn’t the responsible, classy adult before you now.  ”

 

Nicole’s eyes drifted to an empty spot on the floor. “When I saw her at the bar and then the other night when we kissed, I don’t why we ever stopped.”

 

Wynonna tossed her arms in the air and shook her head, “Ok, ok- nope. Boundaries. Look I’m happy for you two. And it’s up to you from here but know this” Wynonna leaned in closer to Nicole’s face, “just because you are my boss, doesn’t mean I won’t kick your ass.”

 

“Yes ma’am.”

 

Wynonna hopped off the table and started for the door, then spun on her boots at the last second, making a squeaking sound. “Ok, I’m gunna go, I need a drink to not think about you two tonight. Have fun, don’t do anything I wouldn’t.”

 

Nicole gave her a smile.“Doesn’t leave much.”

 

Wynonna let out a loud a laugh.

 

“And Wy- thank you. A lot.”

 

“Anything for you haught pants.” Wynonna winked and left the office. Nicole could hear the elevator door open and echos of Wynonna’s footsteps getting in. The silence returned.

 

**** ****

2010:

 

Nicole sat in a small grey cubicle, connected to a large maze of other half walls in a quiet, large room. Her typing was interrupted by a flickering light above her head that hadn’t been fixed all semester. She hated that thing - messed with her concentration and eyesight daily.  She looked up, took a deep breath and re-rolled her sleeves of the blue sweater perfectly fitted to her arms and continued with her work.

 

The room was filled with other interns, typing away on their computers, filling the room with a constant clacking. 

 

It was the start of the final semester of her internship at GRT Tech before graduation, the most popular and the hardest internship to land. Robert let the interns work on advanced projects that put their skills to the test. It helped Nicole become more marketable to her potential clients.

 

As Nicole typed away, she was startled by a sting to her forehead. She flung back into her seat almost falling backwards, catching her balance by grabbing the edge of her white desk at the last second. With the sting she saw a flash of white. After a few rapid blinks she picked up the source. A perfectly folded paper airplane. It had a sharp tip that subtly fanned out to perfectly aerodynamic wings.  A small part of her knew only one person was responsible for it. One wing read ‘open me’. She smiled, as she unfolded all the perfect creases, more handwriting appeared:

 

‘dinner and movie?’

 

‘Circle: yes or no’

 

She circled ‘yes’ with a few laps of her commemorative Golden Girls  blue ink pen and folded the paper back up to its original plane like state. She stood from her cubicle, slightly crouched to not draw too much attention, pointed the folded paper in the direction of the cubicle a few feet in front of her, wound her arm behind her ear and quickly released the flimsy date jet forward.

 

The paper hit the target with such force it elicited a high pitched “Ouch!” and 50 sets of eyes flew to source of the sound, the clacking stopped and was replaced with silence.

 

Nicole snorted and covered her mouth as she quickly sat down and continued to giggle. The disturbance was brief and the rest of the interns continued about their work.

 

Nicole heard quiet footsteps on the carpet getting louder and when they stopped she looked up to find Waverly standing there in her cream blazer and burgundy skirt, holding the paper Nicole just flung at her with her hand on her hip and sass on her face.

 

“That will cost you extra popcorn at the movie”, Waverly said.

 

Nicole displayed a cocky smile. “I’m ok with that.” She then motioned at Waverly to come closer to where she sat. Nicole put her lips so close to Waverly’s ear it sent goosebumps down the back of her neck. Nicole whispered, “I have an idea better than popcorn.”

 

Waverly swallowed hard. She backed away enough to keep it professional looking, but within arms length.

 

She placed her hand on Nicole’s shoulder, “Look, charmer. Finish your project, and I’ll save you a seat at the security lecture downstairs later.” Waverly then ran her hand down from her shoulder, over the folded bump of her sweater above her elbow, to the exposed skin down to her wrist as she backed away,  returning the goosebump favor as she left. Waverly smirked as she visibly saw Nicole shiver and arm hair stand on end.

 

——

 

Nicole walked in to the back of the massive lecture room on the 3rd floor of GRT. There were rows and rows of red padded chairs facing a large red hanging curtain behind a small stage and podium. She scanned the crowd and spotted Waverly flagging her down from the very front of the room, first row, center two seats.

 

“Of course” Nicole muttered.

 

Nicole hurried down the wide center aisle to the front as the lights dimmed and Robert walked across the stage. His suit shoes clicked and echoed in the room as he crossed the wood floor.

 

Robert bent down to a microphone on top of the small podium, tucking his black tie into his shirt so it wouldn’t hang low in front of him. “Thank you all for being on time today, I know you are busy but we have a special guest with us. Being a government contractor, we have checks and balances, there is an investigation division in place for the government that makes sure we are staying in our lane, legally. If you are so lucky to work here or anywhere that contracts out with the government, you will more than likely get to know the BBD. However, you don’t want to get to know them if it’s anything other than a routine audit.”

 

The crowd gave a few laughs, Robert did not return the emotion .

 

He looked off stage to his right. “Without further ado, please welcome lead investigator from BBD, Agent Lucado.”

 

The crowd clapped as the tall blonde woman took the stage. She was very buttoned up-  a sleek all black suit fitted to her body, her hair was slicked back into a tight bun with an intimidating glare on her face as she scanned the room, glancing upon the two women in the front row momentarily. Nicole’s eyes caught the reflecting light of her hanging silver badge with a black star in the middle around her neck, then to the gun nestled in a holster on her right hip.

 

Nicole nudged Waverly’s arm with her elbow. The button from her blazer pressed into Nicole’s skin. “Intimidate much?” Nicole shook her head in disbelief of the woman before her. Nicole was never one for the power abusing types.

 

“Shh!” Waverly said back as she looked around to make sure no one heard her and lightly hit Nicole’s knee with the back of her hand.

 

“Good afternoon everyone. On behalf of the BBD, I’d like to say thank you for having me. As Robert explained we are an internal investigation team on behalf of the government to check in on our contracts and to make sure everything is… operating smoothly. I’ve been with BBD for quite some time now and have an entire team dedicated to our mission.”

 

The speech went on for about hour. If Nicole had to sum it up to a stranger, she would tell them: don’t mess up, if you do, Agent Lucado and her team will make your life a living hell.

 

As the lecture ended, Waverly and Nicole stayed behind in the large room. The lights now back on and bright as the two stole a few minutes of alone time. Something they were rarely awarded with.

 

Nicole ran her hand through a rouge piece of Waverly’s soft brunette hair hanging by her cheek and gently tucked it behind her ear. The two stared into each other eyes, their silence usually said a thousand words. Waverly brought her forehead to the crook of Nicole’s neck, feeling the warmth and smelling the faint vanilla scent that made her wish they weren’t at work.

 

“I can’t wait to see you tonight”, Nicole said as she entwined her hand with Waverly’s, noticing her new purple nail polish.

 

“Mmm.. me too. I’m glad Chrissy is at Perry’s so I can have you all night. I have to go though, Wynonna’s truck broke down and I have to give her a ride to work.”

 

Nicole gave Waverly a pout face. “Fine.”

 

The two stood up and said goodbye with a light, quick kiss. Nicole held on to Waverly’s hand as long as she could before she had to release.

 

As Waverly got in to the elevator in the hallway, Nicole went in to the restroom.

 

As she entered the stall and took a seat , the outside door to the restroom swung open hard as she heard it hit the wall. She heard a woman’s voice, the tone was angry but her mind didn’t register the words yet. _Lucado_ she thought as she rolled her eyes.

 

She heard several bathroom stalls doors slam open as well, shaking the half walls around her.

 

Nicole then stood up quickly as the outside door slammed open again. Another voice. Nicole quietly moved about to lift her pants to her waist, but paused as she recognized the voice as Roberts.

 

_What the hell._

Nicole stayed silent as she listened. She carefully lifted one foot after another on the toilet seat so they wouldn’t see her feet.

 

“They are sniffing around. I don’t like it.”

 

“Robert. Have I ever let you down? Do you know how much money we are making by these side deals? I don’t give a shit how you have to get it done, just do it. We’ve worked way too and I’m not going to let this stop us. I’ll throw BBD off the scent once again. But any side deal you get, you take. I’ve got big plans for our future.”

 

Nicole was now breathing hard as she realized what she was listening to and holding her balance on top of a toilet seat proved difficult with her tall frame huddled down as she pressed the palms of her hands on each wall beside her.

 

“Agent Lucado, as always I like the way your brain works. We just finished up the armed drones and those should be sold on the black market within the week. Looking at a huge payday. Starting another…project…soon. If you have any buyers let me know. We’ll talk soon.”

 

The outside door slammed once. The talking stopped. Nicole refused to move until she heard a repeated performance of the door.

 

The sink turned on, the soap dispenser clicked on, and Nicole could hear the motions of Lucado rubbing her hands together.

 

The strong smell of the lavender soap hit Nicole’s nose. She felt it coming. She couldn’t stop it.

 

“Hatchoo! _”_

 

_Shit._

Lucado’s heels clicked on the floor, Nicole looked down to see the pointed shoes peeping across the stall door, then fingertips with long nails gripping the top of the green paint chipped door. With a loud thud, and the clang of the metal lock hitting the floor, Lucado forcibly opened the stall door to find Nicole huddled on top of the toilet seat. She reached out to the scared woman, her nails dug in to Nicole’s bicep and she winced in pain as Lucado dragged her to the middle of the room.

 

Nicole’s yelled, “Let go of me!” 

 

Lucado rubbed her cheeks hard with one hand and let out a angry sigh through pursed lips.

 

Nicole looked like a puppy about to be punished.

 

“What did you hear.”

 

“Nothing ma’am. I swear.”

 

Lucado stepped closer into Nicole’s personal space. Nicole could feel hot breath on her forehead as Lucados heels made her taller than Nicole.

 

“This isn’t going to work the way you think it will. Do you understand that?”

 

“Yes ma’am.” Nicole said, terrified.

 

“Nicole, right?”

 

“Ho- how did you know my name?”

 

Lucado put her hands on her hips, her right hand covering the top of her gun. “It’s my job to know everything.”

 

Nicole gulped.

 

“I hear you are quite good. Starting your business in fact.”

 

“I am.”

 

“And you are involved with Waverly, right? Roberts… little pet project?”

 

Nicole furrowed her eyebrows.

 

_What the hell._

Lucado clasped her hands together with a devilish smile, slowly circling around Nicole. _“_ Gosh, would be a shame if anything were to threaten all these great things you have going on.”

 

“Leave Waverly out of this. I won’t say anything.” Nicole said sternly.

 

“Well, you may not have to worry about her. Or maybe you should. I’m sure Robert will get her in the end. But I also don’t trust you, or believe you will keep your mouth shut.”

 

Nicole clenched her fists laying at the sides of her khaki slacks.

 

“Well, congrats Ms. Haught. If you want to protect Waverly, your company, you’ll have to do a favor for me.”

 

Nicole stood up straighter, “I won’t do a damn thing for you.”

 

“Yes. Yes you will or I’ll ruin you and Waverly. I’m very good at remembering mistakes and instances that would ruin your reputation when you are just getting started. I’m sure I can come up with something… convincing. My word verses yours. And secret bathroom meetings involving wrong doing… seems, kind of flimsy, yes?”

 

“What do you want?” Nicole was annoyed.

 

“When you inevitably start your company, I want you to take on a certain client. I’ll let you know when the time is right. Until then, we don’t know each other. And Nicole, don’t try anything. I’m always watching.”

 

Lucado walked past Nicole and harshly bumped her shoulder causing her to step back unbalanced.

 

The door shut behind the blonde woman and Nicole finally let out the breath of fear from her lungs and stepped toward the sink to splash cold water over her face.

 

She stared at herself in the mirror. Water was dripping from her chin.

 

_Shit shit shit. What the hell just happened?_

_If I tell someone would they even believe me?_

_This is fine. It’s one client. How bad could it be? Waverly will be ok this way and so will all my work. It’s fine._

Nicole spun around and ran towards the nearest stall, her knees hit the cold tile floor and half her head buried in the white bowl. She emptied what little contents she had in her stomach.

 

**** ****

Present:

 

Waverly was taking an afternoon walk to her favorite coffee shop. The sky had turned quick from blue to grey on her short walk and the bitter cold settled in. She had her phone to her ear and was leaving a message for Henry about their adventures from the night before and updating Agent Dolls.

 

“Hey Doc, it’s me. I uhh…put in an order for burritos but it won’t be ready till later this week. Talk to you soon, bye.”

 

Waverly hung up and looked down at her purse to swap her phone out with her silver wallet as she approached the coffee shop.

 

The store front was all windows, one had a large logo decal “Stella’s” and Waverly could smell the coffee a few steps from the door. As she reached for the wooden handle she noticed Agent Dolls sitting at a back corner table with a tall woman. She snuck in quickly and scooted to the line. She did her best to hide her face as she stood waiting behind the few people in front of her, while also spying on the pair. The conversation looked heated, hands and arms were crossing the table into the invisible line of personal space. Agent Dolls had a look of disagreement on his face.

 

The woman was tall, Waverly could tell just by the way she was sitting, her back to Waverly. Her hair was blonde and she was wearing an all white suit.  She was shaking her head and her arms suddenly folded tight to her body. In the midst of the argument she was spying on, Waverly ordered her drink and was waiting for it, her whole body exposed now as there was nowhere to hide. The pair stood up and the woman turned around.

 

_She looks so familiar, where have I seen her?_

Waverly on instinct dropped to floor as the pair passed the counter where she waiting and left. When Waverly emerged a few people were staring at her oddly.

 

“Found it! Find a penny, pick it up right?”

 

Waverly grabbed her coffee from the pick up counter and left. She stood outside, looked left, looked right - Dolls and the mystery woman were no where to be found on the crowded sidewalk.

 

——

 

Nicole was spinning around in her kitchen to the TLCs waterfalls playing through the speakers in the ceiling. Her kitchen was so bright. White countertops laid on top of white cabinets with pops of color in various appliances and gadgets lightly scattered throughout.

 

The half apron she was wearing twirled with her around the middle island  as the oven beeped to alert her it was warm enough for the meal she had just prepped.

 

The smell of the freshly prepped meal was traveling through the downstairs of her apartment with notes of garlic and barbecue as Nicole set the table in a separate room with plates, glasses, utensils and wine.

 

When Nicole re-entered her kitchen, her whole body came at attention, every muscle tensed as she dropped an extra glass she was carrying, shattering it all over the tile floor. She caught her breath as Agent Lucado was standing there on the other side of the kitchen island.

 

“Jesus fucking Christ Lucado !”

 

 Nicole placed her hands on the countertop and caught her breath, leaning toward the tall blonde, “How the hell did you get in here!” 

 

“I stealthily broke in through your roof, then rappelled down in my heels and white suit and didn’t manage one ounce of dirt... Please Haught – your front door was unlocked. You probably shouldn’t do that - any crazy person could come in off the street.”

 

“Says you.” Nicole deadpanned.

 

“What do you want. I think we are all settled up after I took on that client.”

 

Lucado’s devilish smile crawled across her face. Nicole wanted to remove it with her fist. “Well that’s just it. I got an interesting request across my desk that stated you are looking in to some suspicious activity that someone was trying to access that clients data.”

 

“Yes, am I not suppose to treat this client like any of my others? Someone is literally trying to steal the data of a client you wanted me to take on.”

 

Lucado chuckled and stepped into Nicole’s personal space, lightly brushing back a strand of red hair from her shoulder, “Oh Nicole, so naïve. Just back off, drop the request with law enforcement, then we’ll be squared away .”

 

Disgusted, Nicole backed away, “This is it. This is the last thing I’m doing for you.”

 

Lucado stayed in place, “Fine. All good. How’s Waverly by the way? I see you two found each other again?”

 

Nicole pointed to the left, “Get out of my house now.”

 

Lucado plucked a carrot from a vegetable tray in the middle of the counter, it snapped as she took a bite, “Have a good date, Nicole.”

 

Lucado smiles and turned to leave.

 

Nicole stood at her kitchen island, palms pressed against the counter as she took a deep breath.

 

_Fucking asshole._

Nicole slammed her fists in to the granite counter top then dropped to floor to pick up the glass. With her mind still on Lucado, she hadn’t realized she cut her hand until she noticed the drops of blood on her white and grey tile floor.

 

——

 

Waverly arrived to Nicole’s apartment early. Way too early to go in and not look desperate so she sat in her Jeep for a little bit. TLCs ‘waterfalls’ came through the speakers so she was content with staying. The snow was falling fast and heavy at this point, accumulating on the ground so quick there wasn’t much existing scenery not being covered. Waverly didn’t mind it. It was fluffy and so bright white it created instant beauty all around her.

 

Just then, a large black SUV pulled in front of Waverly’s Jeep against the curb and slowly rolled directly in front of Nicole’s apartment. A tall woman stepped out. It was dark out, and the woman’s jacket hood was covering her head.

 

_What the…_

The woman walked up the brick entrance way and then directly in to Nicole’s apartment.

 

Waverly mind raced. The fire in her gut grew as she thought the worst of the situation. Sure, her and Nicole reconnected after years of being a part in just two nights, but that’s how they worked. Their passion for each other was undeniable. But maybe Nicole had someone in her life.

 

She tossed her head back in to her seat thinking about what the two women could be doing. She had to turn down the heat in her Jeep as her internal temperature raised.

 

Then, the woman re-emerged from the apartment. She wasn’t there long. Waverly took slight relief in that. Her jacket hood was down now and she saw her face in the light from Nicole’s front porch.

 

_The person Dolls was with?_

_What the.._

Waverly sunk down in her seat as the woman entered her vehicle and drove off so quick her tires skidded on the pavement.

 

Waverly stepped out of her Jeep on to the snow covered pavement, every step she took permanently altered the fresh white coating. Just within the minutes she was waiting the accumulation was already to her ankle.

 

She approached the large red door and pressed the door bell. She was a bit shaken at seeing the woman so Waverly had to gather herself by straightening out her coat and applying a fresh smile as she heard Nicole’s footsteps getting louder.

 

“ _Coming!”_

 

Nicole answered the door and momentarily Waverly forgot about everything as she took in Nicole. She was wearing her blue sweater and jeans,  the casual look melted Waverly. She quickly noticed the bloody towel wrapped around her hand.

 

Waverly had a worried look on her face, “Oh my goodness, Nicole, are you ok!”

 

“Ah yes, come in, I just , uh , accidentally dropped a glass, cut it while I was cleaning up.”

 

“Mmhmm.” Waverly responded but didn’t quite believe her.

 

She grabbed Nicole’s hand and took the lead.  She walked towards what she noticed was her kitchen, then to the sink, and turned on the warm water. Nicole’s eyes were fixated on Waverly as she had her hands wrapped around Nicole’s to help clean the cut. Her thumb was lightly brushing Nicole’s palm that sent a shiver down her spine. When the dried blood was cleared,  the warm water shut off and Waverly’s soft hands left hers.  Nicole grabbed some bandages from her bathroom and brought them back. The two women sat on stools at the large island in the middle of the kitchen as Waverly carefully wrapped Nicole’s hand. The warm fuzzy feeling returned when Waverly’s hand was touching Nicole’s. It was soft and new, yet familiar.

 

Nicole noticed Waverly was slightly distracted.

 

“I’m sorry Waverly. What a way to start our date, huh?”

 

“It’s fine, just tell me there isn’t a secret blood ingredient in whatever smells so good?”

 

Nicole chuckled. “I can guarantee you this happened after I put dinner in the oven.”

 

The two women were so close together in moment , Waverly leaned in to Nicole’s lips but the timer on the oven beeped loudly, interrupting them.

 

Waverly smiled barely hovering over Nicole’s lips. Nicole’s eyes were closed but she could feel the brunettes grin. “Wow I think I’d rather that be Wynonna.”

 

Nicole let out a loud laugh. “Oh! Do you remember that. I swear that girl had the worst timing in the world. I can’t believe she never actually caught us.”

 

“Oh and about Wy, um…she kind of knows you are here, and well, everything else.”

 

Waverly wasn’t sure how to process the news.“Oh, please me tell she didn’t hit you.”

 

Nicole shook her head. “She didn’t. She’s actually known for a while. I guess I let everything out during a black out drunk escapade. Are you mad?”

 

Waverly thought for a moment, “No. I’m glad she knows. Makes this a lot easier.” Waverly let out a light chuckle.

 

Nicole looked down at her perfectly wrapped hand, she could barely feel the pain now. “Ok , enough talking. You go out to the dinning room, right over there, and I will get the food.”

 

Waverly walked into the large dinning room. The table could easily fit ten people but Nicole prepared the table in a way that felt intimate with place settings across from each other, a candle off to the side and fabric napkins perfectly folded in the middle. She opened the bottle of red wine on the dinning table and poured two glasses as Nicole took the dinner from the oven and plated it.

 

Nicole strolled in to the dinning room, steam flowing behind her, as she carefully balanced two full plates and set one in front of Waverly, then in front of her seat across from Waverly and sat down. “Ok, all set. It’s vegan pulled ‘pork’. It’s jack fruit and some other ingredients.”

 

“It smells amazing, thank you.”

 

Waverly scooped a good amount onto her fork and took a bite. “Wow it tastes even better if that’s possible. Mmm, so good.”

 

“Glad you like it.”

 

Dinner was slightly awkward. Waverly was mostly quiet as they ate and drank. The only sound that could be heard between chewing was the tynes of the fork clanking against the plate.

 

“Waves is everything ok?” Nicole set her utensils down and looked at Waverly lovingly.

 

“Um, ya, no, I mean I think everything is ok.”

 

“Waverly if this is all too fast just let me know.”

 

“No, no. That’s not it at all. I uh- look I showed up early and saw a blonde woman coming and leaving.”

 

“Oh Waves that was just a, business call.”

 

Waverly half interrupted, embarrassed.

 

“Huh, she looked so familiar though. Well, I guess I couldn’t be upset if you had someone in your life I mean we just reconnected a few days ago and here we are already and…”

 

Wide eyed and mouth open, Waverly stared at Nicole. “oh - oh my god. I remember. That’s Agent Lucado. The scary woman from that damn lecture when we interned together. You hated her, why are you with her.”

 

Waverly stared off to the side, “The BBD. She must be Dolls boss.” 

 

Nicole squinted, “What?”

 

Waverly stood up from where she was seated with such force the table moved from side to side, and the wine glasses wobbled enough a small amount of liquid splashed out of the sides.

 

“Waves who is Dolls? What is going on?”

 

Waverly pointed at Nicole. “Tell me right now what she was doing here.”

 

Nicole thought about lying. She even opened her mouth to start to utter the complete garbage she had prepared.

 

She couldn’t.

 

“If you will please sit back down, I’ll tell you why.”

 

Waverly took a deep breath and carefully sat back down on the wood chair. She straightened out the ruffled navy blue checkered table cloth that was a victim of her eagerness .

 

Nicole pushed her empty plate forward, placed her elbows on the table and squeezed the sides of her nose for a mental release of the truth she was about to tell.

 

“It’s… complicated. I’ve never told anyone this, I couldn’t. And Waverly know if I could go back and fix it I would. I would have made a better decision.”

 

Nicole took a pause.

 

“Nicole, please just tell me?”

 

Nicole continued as she tugged at her hand,“When we were interning, that moment, after the lecture with Lucado and you left, I was in the restroom. Lucado and Robert walked in and were talking about some illegal extracurricular activities they were involved in at GRT. I guess they work together on some off book projects and make money. They didn’t know I was there until I got caught by Lucado.”

 

Nicole was now pulling away at the perfectly wrapped bandage.

 

“She threatened my company. She threatened you. I didn’t know what she was capable of so I told her I would keep my mouth shut but she didn’t believe me and she wanted me to do a favor for her instead. It seemed harmless. My first year of the business I took on this medical practice she told me to sign. They have us store their patient files but recently those were hacked.”

 

Waverly sat in silence. Her brain wanted to simultaneously piece how Nicole’s company was involved in what Henry and her found and also be upset at Nicole but it could only choose one.

 

Waverly’s mind and heart chose the anger towards the other woman. She closed her eyes and shook her head, “so you are telling me you’ve known that Robert has been dirty since we were interns?”

 

Waverly’s words hit Nicole in an instant. Guilt stuck on her face.

 

“Waves – I …”

 

Waverly interrupted. “You have no idea what kind of situation you’ve put me in. Did you not think me working there could be dangerous? Were you thinking of me at all or just your precious company?”

 

Waverly stood up again, her whole body tensed as she spoke and took a few steps away from table.

 

Nicole stood up as well. The two women were now facing each other, Waverly closer to the entrance of the dinning room and Nicole trying to move closer to Waverly, reaching out but grabbing air instead as Waverly shifted.

 

Nicole stopped. “Was I thinking of you?! that’s all I ever did. But you clearly wanted to work there and I wasn’t about to stop you. If I thought you were in danger I would have said something but you were pretty adamant of not staying with me and choosing him. Me telling you could have made things worse. Lucado is unpredictable and trusted by law enforcement.”

 

Waverly stormed in to the kitchen, no matter how hard she tried being mad, she was still polite. She had picked up her plate before she stomped away and placed it in Nicole’s sink. Nicole followed her in and did the same, except Nicole’s plate hit the sink harder with a loud clashing noise.

 

Before Waverly got to the exit of the kitchen, she turned to Nicole. “So this is still about me choosing Robert and GRT over you and C.J? My god Nicole how petty have you gotten?”

 

“Damnit Waverly! No, that’s not what I meant. I just meant that I knew you could handle yourself and you seem fine now! I was being threatened and now basically blackmailed so what was I supposed to do?”

 

Waverly shook her head and continued to walk to the small entryway and quickly grabbed her jacket off a hook and placed her shoes on, “you have no idea what working for GRT has done to me. I can’t do this right now.”

 

Nicole followed and stood close to Waverly at the door. She watched as Waverly placed her brown boots on one by one, losing her balance momentarily as half her foot caught the edge of a black door mat. She stuck an arm out to offer help but Waverly glared at the taller woman.

 

“Great, so you are running again, why am I not surprised.” Nicole placed her hand on the front door to stop Waverly’s motions for a moment. “Waves , just stay and talk please it’s been snowing for hours there’s no way you are going anywhere.”

 

“Please move, I am leaving.” Waverly forcibly moved Nicole’s arm from the door, grabbed a hold of the long silver handle, her rings clanking on the metal, and swung it open. Just as she did the snow came blowing inside landing on the tile floor of the front entrance. Both women braced themselves and squinted their eyes as the ice cold precipitation coated their bodies.

 

Waverly trudged through the fallen snow. Her movement was increasingly slower as she got closer to the vehicle. The white , heavy precipitation tried to pull her to the ground with every step and snuck down the tops of her boots. She could feel the cold melting on her ankles and feet. Nicole was worryingly looking on, “Waves! Come back, it’s not safe!”

 

Waverly made it to her Jeep, both her and the vehicle covered in snow, ignoring Nicole.

 

Nicole slammed her injured hand in frustration into her red paned door, but accidentally hit the gold door knocker causing the gash to bleed harder, blood visible through the white wrapped bandage. “Shit!” She grabbed her hand, continuing to look at Waverly’s stubbornness.

 

When Waverly entered her vehicle and turned it on, she shook every limb to discard the cold snowflakes resting on her clothes and exposed skin. She then turned on the wiper blades to clear a small opening on her windshield. Barely enough to see the white out in front of her.

 

She hit the gas pedal so hard the side of her foot hit the floor of the vehicle. The engine revved, the tires spun, but the Jeep made no progress forward. All that could be heard was rubber spinning on ice.

 

“Four wheel drive…ya right!”

 

Waverly slammed the pedal to the floor once again, even rocking her own body back and forth to try to help the vehicle forward.

 

Nicole was watching as the tires were spinning, the front set were swaying side to side as the vehicle moved an inch, then back an inch. After the fifth time, no matter how much her hand hurt, she couldn’t help but chuckle out loud at Waverly’s actions.

 

The Jeep stopped moving and Nicole could see Waverly’s head drop to the steering wheel. She fully stepped back inside her house, grabbed her boots and put them on. She trudged through the same path as Waverly, even though her footprints were smaller it provided enough of a path to get to car. She opened the passenger door of the Jeep and stepped in to the vehicle.

 

Nicole sat silent for a moment. Shivering without a coat. The snowflakes melted on her blue sweater one by one as the blowing car heat hit them.

 

“Clearly it’s terrible out. But I can either get behind the Jeep to help push, ruin my good jeans mind you, or you can come inside and we can figure this out. I have a guest room you can go in and we don’t even have to talk if you don’t want to.”

 

Waverly started to cry. “ I’m in such deep shit and I have been for so long I don’t know where to begin.”

 

Nicole reached over the middle console to Waverly and grabbed her hand. “Hey, just talk to me. We can do this together, whatever it is, you can trust me.”

 

“Please promise me you won’t tell anyone?”

 

Nicole nodded her head and brought her hand to the back of Waverly’s head. Nicole smiled as her fingers felt the softness of Waverly’s hair even through the dampness.

 

“Doc and I were approached by an agent in the BBD years ago. They are using us to get dirt on Robert in exchange for our freedom when they feel they have enough evidence to arrest him. They could take us down with him if they wanted since we are technically accomplices for working with him on the very contracts he is hiding money in to fund the illegal operation.”

 

“I’ve been walking on pins and needles for so long I forgot what it felt like to be safe, normal, comfortable… whatever. I thought that’s what I felt with you the past couple days, but I guess I was wrong.”

 

A guilt filled tear fell from Nicole’s cheek. She also felt she needed to protect the girl.

 

“No Waves, you can feel safe with me and I feel that way too, I do. I made a really dumb decision and I’m so sorry. I’m not sure what else to say about that right now. But that aside, I think we can maybe help each other, work together. It sounds like we may have been involved in the same thing all along. Please, let’s go inside ok?”

 

With no words, Waverly turned her car off and exited. Nicole followed Waverly through the now twice stepped in snow tracks. A crunch echoed below their boots until the pair reached the front door and stepped in.

 

Nicole quickly took off her boots and raced upstairs leaving Waverly alone to remove her boots and soggy socks.

 

When Nicole returned she had a spare change of clothes in hand.

 

“Might be a tad big, but dry and warm- good for sleeping I promise. There is a spare room right down that hall just past the dining room with a bathroom attached. All yours.”

 

Waverly, expressionless, took the clothes and made her way down to the room to change and Nicole tended to her hand.

 

When she emerged, she met Nicole back in the kitchen. The gray, faded college sweatshirt was impossibly long and covered the blue mesh shorts she had rolled a few times, and the sleeves hung below her fingertips.

 

Nicole tried to hide her smile as she took in the girl drowning in fabric. She briefly took note of Waverly’s exposed smooth sun kissed legs but mostly kept her eyes above her waist.

 

Waverly caught Nicole’s reaction.“Don’t even start.”

 

“Ok, I’m sorry, you look great though. Some tea?” Nicole held out the steaming mug as a peace offering.

 

 Waverly took the mug from Nicole’s hand. Nicole pointed down the hall. “And I started a fire out there in the living room, can we sit and talk?”

 

When Waverly looked down the hall there was an orange glow coming from the direction of Nicole’s hand.

 

Waverly nodded and the two went in to the room that was instantly a few degrees warmer than the hall. The room felt like home. There was a dark shade of paint on the walls, white trim with hardwood floors that followed in from hallway. There was a single brown leather couch in front of the fire with a large, deep, matching leather chair to the right. Nicole called it her ‘thinking’ chair, but at the moment it was Calamity Jane’s, who wouldn’t budge. After trying to remove the sleeping beauty and failing, the two sat side by side on the couch. Waverly looked in to the fire and around the mantle where Nicole had framed photos of friends and family. 

 

Nicole leaned slightly towards Waverly, “So, can we talk about this?”

 

Waverly nodded as she was sipping her tea. She needed help and she knew it.

 

Nicole rested her arm on the top of the couch, “Let’s put everything on the table. State the facts. I’ll go first.”

 

“I’m in shit with Lucado, who had me sign this client that stores medical records, the clients records were stolen and she has asked me to drop the complaints I filed with law enforcement. Now what’s all of yours?”

 

Waverly took a long sip of her tea. “Agent Dolls from BBD has Doc and I trying to dig up as much dirt as possible on Robert in exchange for us not being arrested when it’s all over. It’s been years but we just found something huge being built in our back field, with documents from your company, which now I’m assuming it’s the stolen records. We haven’t told Agent Dolls about it yet, but we plan to at the end of the week. I’ve never met Lucado directly, he mentioned her once but it was brief. I actually saw them talking at the coffee shop today. She looked pretty pissed.”

 

Nicole saw every defeated, sad emotion spilling from Waverly as she spoke. All she wanted to do was grab her and take her in to comfort her, she instead directed her energy to staring in to the cup of tea. “Do you trust Dolls?

 

Waverly thought for a moment. “I think so. I haven’t really spoken to him too much but he seems like a man of good morals. I guess I never questioned it until you told me about Lucado.”

 

Nicole shifted in her seat, “Ok, well, Can you to show me what you and Doc found tomorrow? Especially if my company, or me for that matter could be implicated. I think that’s best before you talk to Dolls and I’ll keep Lucado thinking I’m on her side. We should figure out what’s going on before they do.”

 

Nicole sighed. “I have to be careful though, I’m not sure if she has someone following me or what but she seems to know a little too much about what I do everyday.”

 

Waverly offered a slight empathetic glance and stared into the flames of crackling fire. She thought about how dangerous this all could be, and whatever Robert and Lucado were up to is still anyone’s guess but Nicole was right, it seemed like she was in this too. “Ok.”

 

“It’ll be ok Waves, I promise I will do everything I can to get us out of this.”

 

Waverly believed Nicole without a doubt. But in the moment Waverly hid any feelings of hope.

 

Waverly stared in to Nicole’s eyes, “I’m still mad at you.”

 

“I know, I deserve any anger you want to put on me.”

 

Waverly shook her head,“But that’s just it, no matter how much I’m upset at you, I can’t stay mad. But right now I can’t forgive you.”

 

“Waves, I understand if I ruined whatever this was starting to be again.”

 

Waverly took another sip to avoid eye contact, “Like you said, we work pretty well together, but it’s probably best if we keep it just that for now.”

 

Nicole brought one leg up on the couch, now fully facing the brunette girl and was barley touching her exposed leg. Waverly took notice of the new pressure against her thigh, fighting the urge to take advantage of the position.

 

“Oh, does anyone else know about this?” Waverly asked.

 

“No, I’ve never told anyone, thought it would be better that way.

 

“Me too. Just Doc and I know, and you now too. Should we tell Wynonna?”

 

Nicole thought for a moment. She knew how protective she was of Waverly and even though she would never admit it, she was of Nicole too. “Maybe not yet?”

 

“Good plan.”

 

The two silently finished their tea as the fire went from roaring and crackling to a small dim orange glow.

 

Neither seemed to want to move or leave each other’s company, hearts racing so fast the fabric against their chest subtly moved. Nicole stood up not out of want but need and put out the rest of the fire with a small pile of dirt resting in a large tin bucket next to the mantle.

 

The pair walked down the hall and Nicole left Waverly at the guest room.

 

“If you need anything during the night I’m just at the top of the stairs ok?”

 

“I’ll be fine.”

 

Nicole nodded.

 

“Goodnight Waves.”

 

Waverly gave a half smile and shut the door.

 

Nicole continued to walk toward her bedroom, the hardwood floors creaking below her. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she took a moment to look back at the now shut white wood door. She wanted to walk back and open the door, apologize over and over on Waverly’s soft lips. But she respected her need for space and quietly turned then lightly climbed to the stairs to her room.

 

Waverly was standing close to the door once she shut it. She thought she heard Nicole’s footsteps stop. She was mad, but deep down she knew Nicole’s good intentions.

 

_I love you._

 

In a moment of weakness from her own pride, she whipped the door open. The hallway was empty. The few seconds she took to take in the darkness and listen to home settle made her realize it was best to go back into the room and go to bed.

 

When her head hit the pillow and she pulled the purple comforter over her head, all she could smell was vanilla. Waverly drifted off to sleep.

 

_Nicole…_  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for stopping by. And truly grateful for good friends who are good at editing :-)


	5. Feels like Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waverly reminisces and Nicole finally finds what is behind door number two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been a while! but thanks to great friends, I was able to pull my sh*t together. Hope you enjoy and I will be back soon. This one is shorter, but the rest of the story has been set! Also- please see the rating change. Thanks!

Waverly’s back hit the cold office door, rattling the ‘intern’ sign hanging just above her head.

Her neck slowly stretched toward the ceiling as her eyes closed and mouth opened, Nicole had her pinned and she wasn’t protesting. Her lips were lightly sucking the side of Waverly’s neck just below her ear, making silent promises of an unexpected afternoon.

Nicole’s long hands worked slowly yet furiously up her torso and gripped just below her breasts. The redhead bent down slightly and kissed a line of ecstasy from her waistline to her chest, tingling her nerves and leaving a trail of wetness behind.

It suddenly stopped, Waverly searching for a reason.

Nicole brought her head up to the brunettes and crashed their lips together, Waverly felt teeth brush hers, then a slight bite down against her lip as the taller woman tugged at the soft flesh between her teeth. Nicole pulled away with a cocky smile as Waverly was left wanting more.

“We can’t do this here,” Waverly nagged, but the smile behind her words said otherwise.

Nicole took a step even closer to Waverly, she placed a hand on her hip as she leaned in. Waverly braced for another kiss, but Nicole’s head and hand shifted toward the door handle behind Waverly and opened it. She led Waverly backwards in the room and raised her eyebrows with a questioning stare into Waverly’s hazel eyes.

Waverly nodded back and the pair locked lips.

Nicole’s weight went to one leg to steady them as her other heal kicked backwards to close the door behind them. Waverly then felt a pull with one arm, a strong hand on her back, as Nicole’s other arm clumsily shot back to the silver lock on the door, fumbling fingers trying to spin the soft metal.

_Click._

She haphazardly directed Waverly back into a copy machine that sat on the opposite wall with a forceful move that rocked it. They giggled as Waverly’s backside was perfect height and accidentally hit the on button, a few of them lit up green and the photocopy light shined behind Waverly. She saw the desire in Nicole eyes as she felt a strong grip on her ass lifting her on to the glass top of the appliance. The look intensified in Nicole, her eyes grew wider, darker, realizing Waverly’s no underwear secret from beneath her skirt. Waverly was now equal height to Nicole, her feet dangling at Nicole’s knees, she grabbed at Nicole’s belt, pulling her between her legs as she slipped a few fingers on each hand into Nicole’s back pockets of her black pants. Nicole planted both hands on Waverly’s thighs, the brunette felt the pressure of Nicole’s fingertips as she worked her skirt up to her waist. Nicole’s hand slipped against Waverly’s smooth skin and crashed down to the machine, it made a familiar noise. The green light came on under Waverly and started from the right, disappeared under Waverly then emerged again to the left. The pair let out a loud laugh. They pressed their foreheads together, as a piece of paper dawning the replica of perfect cheeks printed out. Waverly stopped their passionate actions to grab the item from her left, glanced at her own creation and giggled, “well, it’s not Mona Lisa.”

Nicole brought her lips to Waverly’s ear, lowered the paper from her hand and whispered, “you’re right, it’s way better.” Waverly swallowed, visibly moving the muscles in her neck. She dropped the paper and it lazily fluttered to the carpeted floor.  She took Nicole’s face into her hands and pressed the tall woman’s lips to her own. She felt weightless as Nicole picked her up and carried her to a nearby desk, her legs were wrapped around Nicole’s waist. Waverly felt the edge of the desk press into the back of her thighs as Nicole guided her down, lying her flat on the desk, she had her eyes closed as she heard the crash of objects hitting the floor. When she opened her eyes, the desk was free of any supplies that surrounded her, and Nicole coyly smiled.

Waverly felt the thrusting of Nicole’s thighs between her legs with every continued kiss and soft touch to her body. Waverly brought Nicole closer by wrapping her legs around Nicole’s waist and pulling her forward, causing the redhead to crash on top of the brunette. Waverly clenched her hands around the muscles on Nicole’s rib cage, feeling each one move under her palm as Nicole was now completely bent over Waverly, feeling her on her chest. Nicole used her elbows to slightly lift herself and Waverly felt a warm breath on her chest, fingertips were ferociously removing buttons and kisses were placed from her neck, to her breasts, then to her belly button. She felt Nicole’s thumbs press into her inner thighs as she let out a gasp. Nicole’s hair hung just above her waistline, tickling the exposed skin, as she felt Nicole’s lips stop.

Shocked by the lack of touch, Waverly shot her eyebrows up and looked down at Nicole who was now wearing that familiar sly grin. Waverly tossed her head back down to the desk. She felt the damp heat return to the inside of her thigh, the pulse between her legs was undeniably in the driver’s seat and Nicole’s hands were on the wheel. Nicole’s lips moved to Waverly’s center, passionately taking in the shorter girl’s wet response to Nicole’s presence.

Waverly let out a loud moan as she braced her palms against the desk and grabbed at the air. She wanted more as she lifted her ass towards Nicole’s mouth.  She glanced down again to the top of Nicole’s head circling and bobbing and the sight was enough to throw Waverly over the edge.

“Oh, Waves.”

Waverly smiled in satisfaction, knowing what was about to come.

“Nicole!”

“Waves.”

“Waves!”

Waverly slowly blinked. The sensations abruptly left her body and she missed them instantly. It took a few moments to realize she was staring at a different ceiling and Nicole’s body was replaced with a comforter. She sat up quickly and immediately saw Nicole standing in the doorway of the guest room in her own home.

Nicole squinted, “are you okay? I thought I heard you calling my name?”

Waverly blushed. “Oh, um, no you must be mistaken, I was…sleeping.”

Nicole displayed a cocky grin and Waverly pulled the blanket farther up her face.

Nicole said through the now permanent smile, “Sure. Ok. Well I made breakfast. It is ready when you are.”

Nicole smiled all the way back to the kitchen like she just won the Nobel Peace Prize. _“I will never forget that moan”,_ Nicole mumbled to herself.

Waverly took a moment to collect herself. It crossed her mind to finish what dream Nicole started, since it really did happen years ago Waverly tended to dream about it often and knew exactly how it ended.

——

Waverly traipsed into the kitchen, smelling the fresh pancakes and coffee the entire way in. She plopped herself on a stool at the kitchen island as she watched Nicole from behind flipping pancakes onto a plate. He hair was perfectly messy hanging at her neck, her faded pink tank top displayed toned shoulder and back muscles and short white shorts reminded Waverly just how long those legs were.

After she took the sight of Nicole in, Waverly’s attention went to herself. She lifted one arm above her head and sniffed, she cupped her mouth with one hand and huffed in a quick breath, then checked her bed head in the reflection of a spoon Nicole had placed out, startled at what she saw, she smoothed down the rogue chunks of hair standing from the top of her head. Nicole spun around just as Waverly put the spoon down and reached out a white plate with a stack of fluffy pancakes in the middle, turned again and returned with a steamy pot of coffee and poured a cup for Waverly.

Waverly smiled. “Thank you.”

Nicole leaned on the countertop across from Waverly. “So, did you sleep ok?”

Waverly nodded as she sipped her coffee, “fantastic, thank you.”

Nicole sat down with her own plate and the women prepared their pancakes, sharing a smile as they both poured a generous amount of syrup on top of the stacks.

Nicole took a sip of coffee, “There is some good and bad news. Which do you want first?”

“Always lead with the bad news.” Waverly said as she took a hearty bite of her pancakes, the leftover syrup falling from the fork to her plate.

“Your Jeep is absolutely buried in snow from the plows, so I don’t think that will be going anywhere for a while.”

Waverly sighed. “Well I guess I can call a cab to work.”

Nicole lifted her eyebrows, a look of optimism on her face. “That’s where the good news comes in. The power grid is down in the city, so everything is closed. No work today.”

Waverly’s mouth opened. “A snow day! I haven’t had one of those since I was a kid!”

Nicole chuckled. “However, I think it would be a good opportunity to show me what you and Doc found?”

Waverly wrapped both hands around the warm mug and nodded in agreement with a disappointed flip of her bottom lip. Between chews, Nicole continued, “I can have Joe pick us up.” Waverly sighed. “That’s fine. But we need to be careful. There were armed guards patrolling the area.” Nicole’s eyes shot up from her meal to Waverly. “Armed!?” She took a beat with concern on her face. “Well I guess I don’t put that past Lucado or Robert.”

They fell in an awkward silence as they finished their breakfast.

“How’s your hand?” Waverly questioned. Nicole lifted her hand and put her attention to the front of it, then the back, she stretched her long fingers and made a fist through the fresh tightly wrapped gauze, “Sore, but not bleeding anymore.”

Waverly offered a sympathetic look, she wanted to stand up and kiss her injury, hug Nicole, anything to make her feel better. Her eyes met Nicole’s for a few moments too long while imagining this, snapping Waverly back to reality – the reality where Nicole lied to her for years and the anger boiled in her stomach again. “Not sure how far we will get, I don’t have any clean clothes.”

“Actually I’ve been awake for a while so I washed yours from yesterday and left them on the dresser…” Nicole’s voice lowered as she spoke into her coffee mug, “when I checked on you this morning,” embarrassed for only a moment but the smile crept on her face again.

Waverly blushed. Normally Nicole’s confidence was enduring, but in this moment, it made Waverly even more bitter towards the whole situation.

 _“_ Always still so perfect and prepared I see,” Waverly said with a bite in her tone.

“I’d like to call it considerate, but yes.” Nicole snapped back. Waverly shook her head and huffed out a breath of air. Nicole pressed her lips together as she stood up, grabbed her plate and tossed it into the sink. The noise was loud enough to make Waverly think there was a broken dish.

“Well at least let me help clean up,” Waverly quickly offered.

“I got it…I’ll have Joe come in…” Nicole glanced down at her phone, “an hour.” Nicole turned away from Waverly, her attention now solely on the sink as she took her frustration out on the dirty dish.

_——_

Waverly retreated down the hall to her room, upon entering she saw the perfectly folded clothes Nicole had left along with a small basket of toiletries to shower with.

She grabbed the dark wicker handle and went to the connecting bathroom, delicately tip toeing as she opened the door. Nicole’s style throughout the house was simple, everywhere felt comfortable. This bathroom was no different. Nothing fancy, but well taken care of. Waverly wasn’t surprised at the style; Nicole always enjoyed older architecture and would rather restore things than buy new. It was evident in the beautiful white claw foot tub Waverly couldn’t wait to dip in to and the matching pedestal sink she needed to brush her teeth in. There was a shelf across from the sink, it held towels and a small pink vase, holding a bunch of fresh lavender.

Waverly closed her eyes and shook her head with a reminiscent smile.

 

**

_Waverly stretched her limbs in the impossibly small bed. As her arm made its way from above her head to her side, it hit a lump beside her._

_“Ouch.” Nicole groaned._

_"_ _Mmm, sorry baby, this bed really is tiny for the both of us.” Waverly apologized as Nicole pulled the blanket down from her face and gave an exhausted smile._

_"_ _Waves, that just means...” Nicole then wrapped Waverly in tight and brought Waverly close as she felt Nicole lips on the back of her neck, “we get to cuddle close all night.”_

_Waverly huffed, “well not when I start to cramp up.”_

_She glanced behind her at an offended looking Nicole._

_“Well let me work out those cramps then...” Nicole offered as Waverly felt one hand of Nicole’s travel down her thigh._

_“No! No no no.” Waverly protested. “We have class and you my dear definitely have morning breath.” Waverly fought the smile of her last comment by pressing her lips together right as Nicole jokingly tried to tickle her._

_“Fine, you win.” Nicole said half heartedly as she pressed a kiss to Waverly’s forehead and got off the bed._

_Waverly heard Nicole from the bathroom, trying to understand her words through a moving toothbrush. “You know Waves, Wynonna is gone all weekend we can skip classes today, and just enjoy some privacy for a day.”_

_Waverly then heard the water turn on and off again and saw Nicole appear in the door and point her toothbrush as she was trying to make a compelling argument, “and another thing, when Wynonna is gone our bathroom is so much cleaner.”_

_Waverly laughed, “well we agree there. I mean I do only have this one class, and it’s Friday, I could get my notes from Chrissy...” Waverly then pulled the sheets back over her body, “but only if you get back in bed in the next, five seconds.”_

_Nicole dawned a contemplative look, then a wide smile as she took the few quick steps towards the bed and leaped in. She ruffled under the sheets so fast Waverly was speechless as she now cuddled into Nicole and smelling fresh mint._

_“Mmm, see I have good ideas.” Nicole’s hummed. “Also, did you put fresh flowers in the bathroom?”_

_Waverly nodded her head that was tucked comfortably in Nicole chest, “I did, went to the market and figured they’d be nice to look at when you and Wynonna got ready.”_

_Nicole placed a kiss at the top of Waverly’s head, “I love them, thank you. I want that in my own house one day, fresh flowers in every bathroom.”_

_Waverly felt the smile Nicole gave at the side of her head._

_“Nic, with your future you know you’ll have a house with like twenty bathrooms. That’s a lot of flowers.”_

_Waverly felt Nicole tug away and look at her quizzically. “What’s that supposed to mean?”_

_Waverly grabbed Nicole’s arm, “I’m just saying your company is going to be a huge success, you’re going to have a huge house, nice cars, I can see it now, small things like flowers won’t matter one day.”_

_Nicole shook her head, “Waverly I wouldn’t care about any of that. Sure, it’s nice, money obviously makes life a little easier, but if I don’t have the people I love around me during my successes and failures, what’s the point? …And I promise you now I will personally put fresh flowers in every one of my fictitious twenty bathrooms if that means you’ll see them every morning and smile.”_

_Nicole winked and softly smiled at Waverly. Waverly brought her head back in to Nicole’s chest as their legs increasingly tangled together and found comfort. The ease of everything made Waverly comfortable enough to fall asleep again as Nicole held her close._

_**_

Waverly brushed the lavender with her thumb and stood on her tip toes to breathe in the scent as her mind came out of the memory and back to the present situation. She wasn’t sure if it was a happy accident that they were there or if it was planned but she enjoyed seeing them, nonetheless.

 ——

Waverly took a last-minute glance in the full body mirror hung on the back of the bathroom door. There was a window above the shower she looked to, but couldn’t see out because of the falling snow, then her eyes were back on her outfit, then back outside. “Well this won’t do.” The skirt and button up made sense for work, but not for multiple feet of snow and climbing buildings.

Waverly walked to the kitchen and didn’t see Nicole. She took a moment and grazed her hand over the granite countertop, the kitchen was spotless with a faint lavender scent and the sound of the dishwasher echoing off the high ceilings. She hated to admit it to herself, but she was falling in love with Nicole’s house and way it felt like a home.

Without putting too much thought into it she walked back down the hallway and up the stairs, hesitating when she reached the top. There were a few rooms to the right and left of the oatmeal colored walls and dark hardwood floors, but one had a light on, and a shadow was casting against the wall opposite the door. Waverly started with intention to the door and entered, with manners to the wind the sight Waverly saw among the shuffling embarrassment of a half-naked Nicole turned in to a consequence of her actions.

“Holy shit balls Nicole! I’m so sorry!” Waverly screeched and covered her eyes as she about faced the surprise situation. A quick blush crawls over the faces of both women.

Nicole continued to scramble, hurried motions ensued to clasp the bra in the middle of her chest, spinning it around and tossing the green straps over her shoulders, she then grabbed the blue jeans on her bed and clumsily hopped into them, falling to the bed next to her with an “ouch” escaping her lips.

“Are you ok?” Waverly asked hesitantly as she almost turned back around.

“Uh, ya just- almost done.” Nicole said through a white and black striped shirt brushing over her face. She stood there for a moment while Waverly was still facing the opposite way, “Waves, you’re good now, you can Uh- turn around.”

Waverly took a deep breath and turned, “right. Again, so sorry I should have knocked or something.”

Nicole waved her apology off, “nothing you haven’t seen before.”

If it was possible Waverly’s blush got a deeper shade of red, Nicole smirked and put her hands on her hips. “So, what did you need?”

Waverly was fidgeting with her own fingers and smoothed out her skirt, “well where we are going isn’t exactly the best place for work attire.”

Nicole nodded, “ah, yes. Will jeans do? Might be a bit long but should be alright.”

“That’s perfect, thanks Nicole.”

Nicole walked to her closet and Waverly could hear her shuffling around. Waverly took the opportunity to glance around her bedroom. It’s true Nicole fashion-an equal mix of comfortable, fun, and organized. The bed looked comfortable with a white oversized comforter and fluffy pillows, it looked like Waverly could jump in it and get swallowed whole. There were also candles on the nightstand, she couldn’t see the scent name, but they were orange in color -something sweet, Waverly guessed to herself. At the end of the bed was a cedar chest with an extra crocheted pale pink blanket neatly tucked away on top, it reminded Waverly of college and the extra blanket Nicole kept for her when she spent the night.

Nicole emerged from the closet with a perfectly folded pair of jeans for Waverly and a sweatshirt sitting on top. “I figured you might want this back.”

Waverly took a closer look at the extra piece of clothing. She immediately knew what it was but unfolded it for confirmation- her grey and blue screen print foreign language club sweatshirt from college. It was a little worn down but still soft as ever, and she swore it still smelled like her perfume. “W-wowzers I haven’t seen this in forever! I can’t believe you kept it.”

Nicole rubs at the back of her neck, “ya well, thought it’d be rude toss it, so I’m glad I can give it back to its owner. It not everyday someone gets to join a club for knowing five different languages.” Nicole offered Waverly a small smile then but something behind it was sad. Waverly looked at her and took a subtle deep breath. She wanted to lunge at Nicole, wrap her in her arms and do things her mind hadn’t caught up to yet, but she still had enough anger deep in her gut that prevented her from falling into that luxurious looking bed with her. Instead she settled on a _thank you_ and _I’ll meet you in the kitchen._

——

Nicole and Waverly braved the cold walking out to Nicole’s car, fully prepared in warm coats, hats and gloves. Her driver opened the door, Nicole letting Waverly in first and headed for the city.

With the weather it was a painfully slow and cautious drive to GRT Tech.

Waverly sat on one side of the back seat, her head was leaning against the window and her breath was creating a fog on it while she absentmindedly traced shapes into the condensation. Nicole left the middle seat open and was sitting on the other side with one leg over the other, nervously shaking her foot and stealing glances at Waverly.

Nicole’s phone sat between them as it vibrated against the black leather, _Shea Lady Killer_ displayed brightly as one new message popped up.

Nicole cleared her throat and quickly withdrew the phone into her hand but not without Waverly noticing first, shifting uncomfortably in her seat as Nicole tapped her fingers quickly against her screen, hitting send with anguish on her face.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to creep, but – Shea? Your ex, right?” Waverly asked, intentionally not making eye contact.

Nicole let out a breathy laugh, “uh yea, she likes to check in every now and then for some reason.”

Waverly nodded, “that must be tough.”

“Well, she’s kind of an asshole so it’s easy to be short.” Nicole said with disdain.

Waverly squinted her eyes, “what happened, I- I mean if you don’t mind me asking.”

Nicole smiled with slight pain, “technology.”

Waverly turned more fully to Nicole, “what do you mean?”

“One night she was out while I was working late at the office and her phone accidentally video chatted me. I thought it was on purpose at first until I slowly realized what was happening. She was… with someone. They moved away eventually from the camera, but I heard everything before I hung the call up.”

“That’s- holy shit Nicole I’m so sorry.” Waverly put her hand on Nicole’s their fingers eventually intertwining and resting between them on the seat.

“I guess I have a sign on my back attracting unfaithful women,” Nicole says as her eyes linger on Waverly a bit longer.

Waverly looked to the floor again and withdrew her hand, nervously sliding it between her thighs.

“I’m sorry Waves I didn’t mean that. It was a long time ago, I’m over it. I know it was a different situation-I promise.” Nicole said confidently.

“Nic- it’s ok if you aren’t. It’s probably the dumbest thing I ever did. No one, and especially you deserve that.”

“I know Waves. I moved on, I needed to.”

Waverly took a deep breath, it’s the only thing she could do in the moment where the years of guilt rushed through her body like a tsunami realizing they’ve both made mistakes, they’ve both hurt each other more than anyone else ever could and wondered if they could ever come back from it all.

The car rolled to a stop at their destination. It was the familiar city block for Waverly, but this time there were no bustling bodies in and out of the buildings, it was quiet, cold and desolate as snow swirled between the buildings with the wind.

Waverly clicked out of her seatbelt, “Ready? We need to go to the back of the building, through the alleyway, get an ATV, we can drive from there.”

Nicole zips her coat up as far as it can go past her neck and slides her gloves on. “Will you be warm enough? I brought extras.” She asks Waverly.

Waverly turns, “all set,” as she opened her door, bracing herself against the cold chill of the wind.

——

As Nicole and Waverly walked down the sidewalk, the city was eerie without a single person in sight and even being outside in the daylight it was evident the power was out as they passed storefronts with “closed” signs that were normally brightly lit neon.

“I haven’t been on this side of the city in forever,” Nicole says to Waverly, her breath visible in the air.

“I love it over here, it’s busy but less so and it’s nice having a view of the country behind the building instead of other buildings,” Waverly responded.

Nicole chuckled, “what’s wrong with buildings? Architecture around here is beautiful. It’s delicately restored and tells a story and the new Mayor is really invested in making the city a real tourist destination...” She shook her head at the end and realized the unintended offended sound to her voice. Waverly looped her arm into Nicole’s that was deep inside her jacket pocket as if to stop Nicole’s train of thought and softly said, “relax, you sound like me. I know that. It’s just, different, that’s all.” Nicole sighed and slightly leaned into Waverly with a smile. It was undeniable how quick Nicole could fall back into Waverly’s life. Listen to what she’s missed, touch what she’s missed, but for now this felt good.

When they reached the alleyway Nicole abruptly stopped Waverly by putting a gentle arm in front of her, “Waves, wait.” Nicole pointed to the ground. “Fresh prints in the snow.”

Waverly shook her head, “could be anything. We have people patrolling this area 24/7.” Her calm and reassuring tone was enough to let Nicole continue. They walked down the alley and reached the chain link enclosure of the ATVs. “Shit.” They said in unison. The door was already open, the lock was cut in half discarded in the snow and one of the vehicles was missing. Nicole scratched the top of her head over her purple beanie. “Well, there’s one left, I say we still go out there.” This is seemed like a crazy idea to Nicole, just this morning Waverly was talking about armed guards and scaling buildings, but she couldn’t deny the adrenaline coursing through her veins. Going towards the danger felt natural, like something she was born to do.

As Nicole looked out in the distance to the tracks, Waverly silently walked over to the mud-covered utility vehicle, mounted it and started it with ease. The engine was loud as smoke was coming out the tail pipe and she revved it for extra assurance it was good to ride. She looked at Nicole, her mouth was agape, and eyes were fixed on Waverly.

Waverly laughed, “what? Let’s go!”

Nicole tripped over her own words as she was still trying to process Waverly handle the situation, “Ah, um- nothing, ya, yep, let’s go.”

Waverly drove and Nicole wasn’t complaining that she needed to hug her from behind as Waverly sped through the makeshift path to the testing facilities, clutching harder when they hit a bump or had to turn fast. Waverly slowed the vehicle down as she saw the missing vehicle parked outside of the front door where Doc and she were the other night. She parked it on the opposite side of the building and both women hopped off. Nicole crinkled her nose and rubbed her hands together, “so cold.”

Waverly let out a breath, “ya that wasn’t ideal was it?”

Nicole nodded her head in the direction of the other vehicle as they peeked around the corner of the brick building.

As Nicole looked around the corner and Waverly stood close behind her, she could feel her heat as Waverly used Nicole’s arm for balance. Two people appeared from the door and Nicole immediately snatched Waverly back with a protective grip, Nicole lips were barely grazing Waverly’s forehead and she could feel Waverly’s heartbeat.

“Wait a second.” Waverly furrowed her eyebrows and started around the corner without notice, leaving Nicole with the immediate chill at the loss of contact with the brunette.

“Waverly what are you-…”

“Wynonna! Doc!” Waverly shouted. “What in the h-e- double hockey sticks are you doing!”

Nicole watched with a perplexed face as Wynonna and Doc turned around, with a look like they were caught red handed and she followed Waverly over to the curious couple, one bundled up in a leather jacket the other a long wool coat.

“What the hell Doc!?” Waverly continued to question, poking a finger into Docs chest.

“Ah- well, Waverly, I –,” Doc tried to talk but Wynonna stepped in.

“Look baby girl, I have a bone to pick with you -you kept me out of this for far too long. But that’s for later.” Wynonna pointed her finger at Nicole, who stood behind Waverly, “and you. We will be talking after this. For now, help us get this damn door open before someone sees us, I am NOT climbing this building.”

The four determined souls steadied themselves in front of the steel door that needed to slide up. They put all their weight into it, lifting in unison as the door popped open, the metal making a loud crashing noise as it hit the top.

“Damnit!” Doc exclaimed as another door just like it needed to be opened to get to the room they discovered the other night.

As Doc was complaining the three women came to door and lifted it with power and ease. Wynonna was smirking as she turned her back from the now open room, coming close to Doc, “don’t worry, we got this.”

Nicole was already stopped in her tracks. Taking the room in, there was so much to look at and it mostly horrified her. Waverly’s mouth dropped open, shock, worry and fear written on her face as her eyes widened. Doc slowly took his hat off and looked like he saw a ghost. The empty tanks were no longer empty. They were filled with a blueish liquid and bodies. Each one held a victim wearing a tank top and shorts - floating, comatose and hooked up to wires. The computers were hooked up on tables to either side, beeping to the rhythm of heart beats with vitals displayed on a bright screen in front of each tank. Beyond the tanks, the same hospital beds were set up, empty with a desk to the right, Nicole could see paperwork piled high from the front of the room.

“Holy body snatchers.” Wynonna said with a low surprised tone.

“Shit. Doc…” Waverly said as she approached one of the tanks, putting her hand on the plexiglass, her ring making a clanking sound at the contact.

“Its Dolls…”


End file.
